A Startica Song
by Literary Eagle
Summary: A Tenchi Muyo version of the Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. Written with my friend Seion.
1. Part 1

GALAXY POLICE WARNING: Tenchi Muyo is copyrighted by Pioneer LDC and AIC. This story is based upon the characters from Tenchi Muyo and the book "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. There! We've done our disclaimer. Ya happy now?

A STARTICA SONG (Part 1)  
by  
Patrick "Seion" Stewart and Literary Eagle

It was the best of times, it was the Blurst of times. (No, that is not a typo. "Blurst" is the name of the Juraian month when Startica takes place. Would we lie?) It had been seven years since old Kagato had passed away. But this is not his story. (In other words, we just wasted a paragraph.)

Kagato had left his estate to his good friend and business partner, Yosho. Yosho had kept Startica every year, but he kept it in a much different fashion than most men had. He treated it as an ordinary workday, and in fact, he made a point of not celebrating it. And in the process, he had closed his heart to his fellow man. This is his story. (Which comes as a relief, seeing as it means that we did not waste a paragraph this time.)

We begin with a street in the heart of the capital city of Jurai. It was midday of Startica Eve, and people were happily putting up the decorations for the Startica Parade and festival the next day. However, at that moment one could see the joy represented by the decorations being instantly cancelled out at the approach of a man in his mid to late forties. Yosho. As he walked down the street, people cleared out of his way.

Just then, a young beggar walked up to him. Purple hair framed her pale face, which held sunken eyes that were surely a sign of malnutrition. Perhaps the small girl did not realize whom she had dared to approach, or perhaps she was too desperate to care. We sincerely hope that one need not know her name in order to pity the poor soul for what will happen to her next, but if it helps, we shall refer to her as Misao.

"Spare some money, sir?" Misao asked Yosho.

"No. Go away!" Yosho snapped at her.

"Please, sir?" asked Misao in a voice more weak from hunger than from fear.

"I said no! Now get out of my way!" said Yosho, raising his voice and causing the girl to cringe slightly.

"But sir..." Misao tried again. Desperation showed clearly in her green eyes.

"For the last time, NO!" Yosho shouted, "NOW CLEAR OFF OR I'LL HAVE THE POLICE DRAG YOU AWAY FOR VAGRANCY!"

Misao ran away crying. It was a sight that should have broken any heart, but it did not bother Yosho in the least. Therefore, we apologize for saying in the second paragraph that Yosho had closed his heart to his fellow man, when obviously his coldness was not merely reserved for men. Please forgive this oversight. (Please?)

Yosho walked up to the door of his place of business, "Kagato and Yosho Loan Office". He saw that his sole employee, Noboyuki, was already at work.

"Good Morning, Mr. Yosho," said Noboyuki, glancing up.

Yosho frowned at his employee for looking away from his work. "What's so good about it?" Yosho replied sourly. He was about to say something more, but paused when he sensed something about the room's atmosphere. "Mr. Masaki, do you have the air conditioning on in here?" he said accusingly.

"Uh, yes sir," Noboyuki replied, "It's going to get rather hot today and so I thought that--"

"Well, it's not hot yet!" Yosho interrupted, "Turn it off until it is! That air conditioning costs money!"

"Yes sir!" Noboyuki said quickly.

Grumbling, Yosho made his way to his office. Noticing a woman inside wearing a GP Detective's uniform, he turned back towards Noboyuki. "Who's the Geepy?" Yosho asked him.

"Detective Sergeant Mitsuki from the Galaxy Police Public Relations' office." Noboyuki replied.

"Oh yes. It's THAT time of year again!" Yosho groaned, "Better get this over with!"

He walked into his office, and Mitsuki stood up.

"Good morning, sir," she said, "Might I have a moment of your time?"

"Make it quick! I have work to do!" said Yosho.

"Well, sir," said Mitsuki, "I was wondering if you'd be interested in donating to the Galaxy Police Orphans' Fund. Last year, 8,987 Galaxy Police Officers were killed in the line of duty, half of which left families behind, leaving them with no visible means of support. Which is why we are looking for people to donate money to help these poor children."

"And I suppose you want me to donate?" said Yosho, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, sir! How much should I put you down for?" Mitsuki said brightly. She took out a small computer notebook, her card reader.

"None." Yosho said flatly.

Mitsuki blinked, her finger hovering uncertainly over the card reader's keypad. A large sweatdrop formed above her head (and it was not because Noboyuki had turned off the air conditioning). Suddenly, she smiled. "Ah, an anonymous donation! I get it! So, how much shall I 'not' put you down for?"

"None." Yosho repeated, his tone somewhat sharper this time.

A look of astonishment spread across Mitsuki's face. She stood there dumbfounded for a moment, much to Yosho's irritation.

"You mean you won't donate at all?" she finally said.

"That's what I said."

"What about the children?" Mitsuki said, dismayed.

"I didn't kill their parents. Why should they come and take money from my pockets? Better that they hurry up and die and decrease the surplus population. Or that they get jobs of their own and learn what the value of a Jurai is!"

"But sir, it's Startica!" Mitsuki pleaded.

"Why should that make a difference?" said Yosho, pointing towards the door, "Now I bid you good day!"

Mitsuki could not believe what she was hearing. She decided to try one last time. "Won't you reconsider?" Mitsuki said, pouring on all the diplomatic charm she could muster.

---

Out on the street, several passersby were startled by the sight of Mitsuki flying out of the Loan Office and landing on her diplomatic, charming butt. Yosho glared at her from the doorway. "I SAID GOOD DAY!" he told her, then went back inside, slamming the door shut behind him. Seeing as his treatment of this woman (not to mention his opinion of the orphans) once again shows that Yosho had closed his heart to more than just his fellow *man*, we again apologize for the oversight. (Have you forgiven us yet?)

"ASSHOLE!" Mitsuki spat, visibly upset.

Someone reached out and helped Mitsuki up. The detective looked at the young man's face and recognized him as Tenchi, and his beautiful companion as Ryoko.

"I'd prefer if you didn't refer to my Uncle that way." Tenchi said, smiling.

"Oh, thanks, Tenchi," said Mitsuki, brushing herself off, "Care to donate to the GP Orphans Fund?"

"Sure," said Tenchi, smiling again, "Will 25 Jurai be alright?"

"Will it? That's great!" Mitsuki said happily. She pulled out her card reader and typed up the donation, then let Tenchi run his card through. "Thank you very much, sir!" she said, "So, are you gonna go see the old tightwad?"

"Of course." Tenchi replied.

Mitsuki sighed and straightened her slightly rumpled uniform. "How do you put up with him?"

"He's my Uncle. I need no other reason." Tenchi said simply.

"Well, I'll be at the mall," Ryoko told Tenchi, stroking his cheek affectionately, "I'll meet you at our usual table. See you later, my dear."

"I can't wait," said Tenchi. After giving Ryoko a kiss, Tenchi walked into Yosho's building and went up to Noboyuki's desk.

"Ah, good morning, Tenchi," said Noboyuki.

"And a good morning to you too!" said Tenchi, "Is Uncle in?"

"That he is, sir," said Noboyuki, "Shall I tell him you wish to see him?"

Tenchi thought for a moment. "Just tell him he has a client," he said.

"Yes, sir," said Noboyuki, getting on the intercom to notify Yosho.

---

In his office, Yosho said to Noboyuki through the intercom, "A customer? Send him right in then!"

As Yosho stood up, the door to his office opened and Tenchi strode in smiling. "Oh, it's you," said Yosho, frowning and sitting back down.

"Is that any way to greet your only living relative?" Tenchi asked lightly.

"What do you want?" Yosho sighed.

"I came to invite you over to my place for our Startica Party," said Tenchi.

"Now why would I want to do that?" Yosho retorted.

"Why not?" said Tenchi, "We're having a nice dinner, and we have a balcony that is on the parade route and it's near one of the pools. We even have a great view of one of the big fireworks displays."

"Fireworks? Is that supposed to impress me in some way?"

"Heh! Come on now, Yosho. No need for sarcasm. You act as if I've wronged you in some way. I haven't, have I?"

"You married that off-worlder against my wishes!" Yosho exploded, "And you are friends with all those other off-worlders!"

"Well," Tenchi said calmly, "they are my co-workers in the Translator's Department at the Jurai Embassy Complex. And Ryoko is a wonderful woman." He said the last bit with another one of his smiles that Yosho found so irritating.

"And that's another thing!" Yosho exclaimed, "I gave you a chance to become a partner in this company and you had the gall to reject my offer!"

"I'm a diplomat, Uncle, not an accountant," said Tenchi.

"Diplomacy, ha!" Yosho spat.

"So, will you be coming over?" Tenchi said, remaining as calm and cool as a zucumber (the Juraian version of a cucumber).

"Startica's a farce!" said Yosho, "The faster you learn that, the better!"

"So, what time can we expect you?" said Tenchi, maintaining a calmness that would make any zucumber green with envy (at least it would, if not for the fact that zucumbers are already green).

"I'm not coming!"

"Ah, 7:30!" said Tenchi with another smile, "We'll be waiting for you!"

"Are you deaf, boy? I'm not coming!" said Yosho, a vein on his forehead bulging ominously.

Tenchi appeared to think for a moment. "We'll be serving dinner at 8:00 then," he said.

"Look now, I said I'm not--"

"And since the parade comes by around then, we can watch the parade during dinner," said Tenchi, eyes shining.

"Get it through that thick skull of yours! I'M-"

"And then Fireworks..."

"...NOT-"

"And dancing!"

"...COMING!"

"Oh, I guess I'll let you think it over, then," said Tenchi with yet another smile.

"ARGH!"

"I'll see you there," said Tenchi, "And have a Joyous Startica!" He smiled (again) and waved good-bye to Yosho.

"A FARCE!" Yosho shouted, throwing his pen at Tenchi. The pen bounced harmlessly off the door as Tenchi shut it behind him.

Once outside Yosho's office, Tenchi turned to Noboyuki. "So, would you and the wife like to come over for my party?" he asked.

Noboyuki shook his head. "Thank you, but no. Achika and I are having our own for the family. More for Mirei and Sasami more than anybody."

Concern filled Tenchi's features. "How is Sasami-chan anyway?" he asked.

"Well," said Noboyuki, "we've got half the money we need for her treatments. My wish is that one day she'll be healthy enough to walk in a Startica parade herself."

"I'd be glad to help out," said Tenchi.

"No, Tenchi" said Noboyuki, "You've helped us out more than we could have ever hoped already. And for that we are in your debt."

"Think nothing of it," said Tenchi on his way out, "It's the least I could do. Wish Sasami a Joyous Startica for me, then. I'll see you after Startica. Good day!"

Good day? If only Tenchi knew just what a day, or more accurately, a night, someone close to him was going to have! But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

---

Yosho had almost managed to push the encounter with his nephew out of his mind by the time his security guard, a woman called Nagi, walked into his office with a security case shackled to her wrist. By the time both he and Nagi walked out of the office a few seconds later, he had pretty much forgotten about the whole thing. After all, he could not waste time thinking about such trivial nonsense when there was important business to be conducted.

"I'll be at the Commerce Center if anyone needs me," Yosho told Noboyuki, "If they want to talk to me, they can do it in person. You know how much I hate doing business over com channels."

"Yes sir!" said Noboyuki.

"And keep that damn air conditioning down!" Yosho added with a scowl as he went out the door. Yet another reminder of Yosho's unmerciful personality. Although it may not seem as if any more examples are necessary, we are about to provide another one anyway, mainly because we noticed that some of you slept through that last scene.

---

As Yosho was walking back to his office later that day, a young and rather poorly dressed man approached him.

"Excuse me, sir, might I have a moment of your time?" asked the young man.

"Be quick about it. It's working hours," said Yosho.

"Well, sir," he began, "I'm Amarobei--"

Yosho recognized the name. "Ah, yes. I remember. You took out a loan three months ago. Well?"

Amarobei took a deep breath before continuing. "Well, it's about that loan, sir," he finally said, "I'm not gonna be able to make this month's payment and was wondering if--"

Yosho cut him off. "No."

"But, sir," Amarobei pleaded, "it's just one payment. I'll be able to pay it next month. You'll still get your money, only a month later than you wanted."

Yosho frowned in disgust. "It's not about getting my money," he said, "It's about living up to the terms of your contract. And since you don't seem to be able to live up to those terms, I'll have to repossess the item in question, which, if I'm right, was an engagement ring."

"You mean you'd take Yura's ring?" Amarobei exclaimed.

"I'm glad you see my point," said Yosho, "Good day."

"But sir--"

But Yosho was already walking off. "Good day." Yosho said without bothering to turn around.

Angry tears formed in Amarobei's eyes. "Money grubbing old geezer!" he growled under his breath.

"I heard that!" Yosho snapped, still not bothering to turn around.

Since it actually was a man that Yosho had closed his heart to this time, there is no need for us to apologize, so... nyah, nyah!

At any rate, it was pretty clear that something needed to be done about Yosho... but again, we are getting ahead of ourselves.

---

Sunset was fast approaching, and with it would come closing time for Yosho's office. Yosho's clock, a small log with two leaves that pointed to numbers that were painted onto the log in Juraian script, indicated that it was 8:00 PM. Painted above the number 8 were the words "Close of Business". As the big leaf touched the 12 and the little leaf touched the 8, the clock's chimes went off. For those of you who have never heard the sounds Juraian clocks make, they sound somewhat like bamboo wind chimes. If you are really interested, there's a guy named Patrick M. Stewart who sells Juraian clocks on the black market on Earth. (But you didn't hear that from us, okay?)

Upon hearing the clock's chimes, Yosho turned to Noboyuki and said, "That's it for the day, Mr. Masaki. You may go home now. I suppose you'll be wanting to take tomorrow off."

Noboyuki nodded. "If it's not too much trouble, sir."

"Every summer, you say the same thing. And every summer it's as much trouble as the one before." Yosho grumbled.

"It's only once a year, sir," Noboyuki said softly, "And it's more for the family than for me."

"Very well," Yosho sighed, "You may go, then. But I expect you to be early the day after."

"Thank you, sir!" Noboyuki said happily.

"Yes, yes," Yosho said quickly, "Just lock up when you're done. I'll be off now. Good night." He then left without waiting for a response.

"Good night, sir!" Noboyuki said anyway. With a smile on his face, Noboyuki shut his computer down, locked up the office, and headed down the street to a building marked as "Ramia's Bakery". Waiting inside the door was none other than Sasami-chan. Her skin was perhaps a bit too pale, her body a bit too thin, but upon seeing Noboyuki, her eyes lit up with a spark brought about a most miraculous (not to mention kawaii) transformation to her face.

"PAPA!" Sasami exclaimed, her joyous shout much louder than what you would expect from such a small being. She walked (for the frail child could not run) up to Noboyuki and huggled him as high as she could reach. Sasami trembled slightly from the effort of embracing him, but Noboyuki managed a smile. After all, this seemed to be one of her better days.

"Did you have fun helping Mrs. Ramia today?" Noboyuki asked his daughter.

"Oh boy, did I!" she exclaimed, her eyes shining even more brightly than before, "I helped her decorate a cake for Mrs. Ryoko's party tomorrow! She even gave me a full day's pay and a bag of cookies for helping her out! See?" She proudly held up a bag of cookies for her father to admire.

"That's terrific!" said Noboyuki, "Well, let's get home and tell your mother the good news."

"Umm, papa, can we stop by a store first?" asked Sasami, "I wanna get mama a present!"

"Of course," said Noboyuki, smiling. He lifted Sasami up onto his shoulders and continued down the street. Alas, it had not been his imagination that Sasami appeared to have lost weight again...

---

Meanwhile, Yosho had arrived at the door to his house and had activated the panel next to it. The viewscreen opened up and Yosho began to speak. "It's me, Nagi. Open up," he said.

But instead of Nagi's face on the screen, the image of his old partner Kagato appeared and said, "Yosho..."

"Kagato? Is that you?" Yosho whispered, his face looking as if he had just seen a ghost (Which was appropriate enough, since that was exactly what had happened).

"What did you say, sir?" a female voice sounded.

Yosho blinked his eyes a few times and saw that Nagi was onscreen.

"Uh... nothing!" said Yosho, his nervousness making him sound even more snappish than usual, "Now let me in!"

"Yes sir," said Nagi, as she unlocked the electronic gate from inside the building and turned the screen off. "He's losing it," Nagi muttered to herself, "The boys in white'll drag him away soon."

---

A little later that night, around 11:00 PM, Yosho sat quietly at a table in his room, trying to put the annoyances of the day behind him. On the table before him was a bottle filled with a light green liquid, labeled "Pale Amanese Rum". Yosho poured himself a glass and drank it.

"Ahhh... That's better," Yosho said to himself, "Nothing like Amanese rum to drown out the noise from all this Startica nonsense!"

Just as Yosho was pouring another glass, there was a knock at his door. "Use the intercom, Nagi!" he said, irritated at the interruption.

The knocking became louder.

"I said use the intercom!" Yosho shouted.

The knocking turned to pounding.

Yosho got up and stormed to the door. "Do I have to show you how?!" he exclaimed, opening the door, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU--"

Yosho blinked in surprise when he saw that there was nobody at the door. Activating the intercom, he asked, "Nagi? Where are you?"

"I'm in the shower!" Nagi's voice responded.

"You are?" said Yosho. He picked up his remote and turned his screen on. Sure enough, there was Nagi in the shower. "Ah, yes. I see!" he said.

"What?" Nagi exclaimed, looking up to the camera, "Is there anywhere in this house you DON'T have a camera?"

"No." Yosho said simply. "You may continue your shower then," he added, "Good night!"

He turned off the screen, but set his memory crystal player to "record". "Now that that's done..." he said to himself.

Yosho closed the door. As he turned to sit back down, he was shocked to see his long-dead friend Kagato in his chair.

"I see Nagi still works here," Kagato said casually, "I remember when she first started working for me. She was 19 and was hired to look after me when I became ill."

"Kagato?" was all Yosho could think of saying.

"She took care of me in every way imaginable," Kagato continued, not seeming to notice the shocked expression on Yosho's face, "We even made it a few times. Wonderful girl."

"Kagato? Is that really you?"

"Who else would it be?" Kagato replied.

"But you're..." Yosho could not even finish the sentence.

"As a doornail." Kagato said helpfully, nodding.

"But how... Why... What are you doing here?" Yosho managed to say.

"What am I doing here? ... What AM I doing here?" Kagato murmured thoughtfully. He became pensively silent for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Ah yes!", he said brightly, extending his hand, "First, let's shake hands."

"Alright..." said Yosho. But as he reached out, Yosho realized that his hand was blocked by a crystalline structure that surrounded Kagato. "What in the name of Tsu... What is this? Some kind of joke?" said Yosho.

"No, no joke my friend," said Kagato, "But a curse. A punishment."

"For what?"

"For all the things I've done in my life!" said Kagato.

Yosho was baffled. "But all your life ever was was that of a good businessman," he said, "Nothing wrong with being a moneylender!"

"But it was the way I conducted myself!" said Kagato.

"You were always the best forecloser I've seen in my life!" said Yosho, remembering fondly, "Nothing like a good liquidation to improve business, as you so often said!"

"The peoples of the universe should have been our business!" Kagato said, raising his voice, "With every wrong I did against someone, I added another facet to this crystal! Of my own free will I carved it, and of my own free will I live in it!"

"Rubbish!" exclaimed Yosho, trying unsuccessfully to hide his fear, "You're not real! You are an alcohol-induced hallucination! There's more spirits than spirit to you!"

This could not be happening to him, Yosho told himself. It definitely had to be the result of too much Amanese rum. That, or it was something he ate. Yes, that was it. "Kagato" was probably an undigested blot of beef, a crumb of mustard, a bit of cheese, some kind of potato... No wait, that should be an underdone beef, an undigested mustard, a blot of cheese... No, that's still not it... ARGH! (Note to the readers: This is what happens when you buy the study notes instead of reading the actual book. Let that be a lesson to all you students out there.) At any rate, Yosho simply could not believe that this was happening!

"YOOOOOOOOSHOOOOO!!!!!," Kagato wailed, "DO YOU NOT BELIEVE YOUR OWN EYES?!!"

Perhaps it was a bit overdone, but it worked for Yosho, who began cowering on the floor. "I believe! I believe! But why have you come to haunt me?" Yosho sobbed.

"I have come to warn you," Kagato replied, "If you continue on your present course, your prison's wall will be twice as thick and have twice the facets as mine."

"If I'm to be damned, then why are you telling me this?" Yosho demanded.

"Because it's not too late," Kagato said softly, "There's still a chance for you."

"A chance?" said Yosho, "What chance?"

"You will be visited by three spirits," said Kagato, "Heed well what they show you, lest you should wind up like myself."

"Three spirits?"

"Expect the first at Midnight," said Kagato, beginning to fade away.

"Wait, Kagato! KAGATO!!" Yosho shouted. But Kagato was already gone. Yosho's courage departed as well; he hurried to his bed and hid under the covers.

---

It was not until the Juraian chronometer at Yosho's bedside struck 12:00 that he finally peered out of the covers. By this time, his fear had been replaced by his usual grumpiness. "What's keeping this spirit?" Yosho grumbled, getting out of bed and heading for the door, "Hrmph! Spirit indeed!"

He continued to grumble as he opened his bedroom door ... and stopped when he found that his lounge had been turned into a breathtaking arboreal paradise, with golden rays of sunlight shining through spaces in the bluish-green treetops. Some rays of sunlight appeared to be dancing through the air, but closer inspection revealed that they were bright yellow butterflies, their gold rivaled only by the golden voices of the various songbirds perched all around. As for the birds themselves, they came in all sorts of colors, giving the appearance of a rough circle of precious jewels surrounding the pool of water that was the center of this miniature Eden. Sitting on a rock by the water was a lady in traditional Juraian dress.

As impossible as it may sound, the woman was even more beautiful than the magical forest that surrounded her. The shower of blue that was her hair had been tied into two long ponytails, looking like twin rivers that cascaded past her shoulders and down her back. Her lovely face held bright pink eyes that somehow sparkled with both childlike mischief and the wisdom of Jurai's greatest sages, and the exquisite robes that she wore only added to the fairytale aura she had about her.

"Greetings, Yosho," said the woman, her voice flowing as gently and pleasingly as a brook. She extended her hand for a songbird to perch on.

"Who are you?" said Yosho, sounding just a bit nervous. Understandable, given that his lounge now looked like something off the Discovery Channel.

"I am the Spirit of Startica Past," she said in response to Yosho's question. She patted the spot next to her on the rock. "Come, sit down."

"Why?" said Yosho, still very nervous, "What are you going to do to me?"

"Be not afraid, Yosho," said the spirit, "You have nothing to fear from me."

"Then why are you here?" asked Yosho.

"I have come to you to show you the shadows of times that are long past," was the reply.

"I don't need to be reminded of the past," said Yosho, "I remember it quite well."

"Do you?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then you have nothing to fear from what I shall reveal to you," the spirit said with a smile. She approached the window, the one part of the lounge that had remained unchanged, and opened it. "Come Yosho. We shall depart on our journey."

"Out the window?" Yosho sputtered.

"This is the portal to the past, my friend," said the spirit.

"I can't fly!" Yosho exclaimed, "If I go out the window, I'll be killed!"

"You need only take my hand, Yosho," the spirit said, extending her delicate hand towards Yosho.

Hesitantly, he took it. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"A place very familiar to you," was the reply. The spirit and Yosho stepped out of the window and flew off into the night. At first, Yosho was absolutely terrified, but he eventually grew accustomed to flight. The spirit's grip on his hand was gentle but strong, and he had the feeling that she would not let him fall. Not only that, but he somehow felt as light as a feather.

Besides, there were much worse things he could be doing than flying over the city with a beautiful woman, and this woman was VERY beautiful. She even had a soothing scent of flowers and trees about her. It was similar to a wonderful dream that Yosho had had once, except that he probably wasn't going to "score" at the end of this flight. Oh well.

When they finally landed someplace, the night suddenly turned to day and the city changed into the campus of a prestigious Juraian private school. Judging from the fact that the school was practically abandoned, one could deduce that it was the time of the Startica Holiday. The only people there were the caretaker, a groundskeeper, and a lone student sitting under a tree.

"I know this place!" Yosho exclaimed, "This is my old school. But it's so ... empty."

"Well of course it is, Dear Yosho," said the spirit, "It's Startica. All of the young men are at home with their families ... save for that young man under that tree."

The young man was looking at a holo-pic projector. He projected pictures of his mother Funaho, his sister Kiyone, his girlfriend Aeka, and his father Azusa. Once Azusa's picture appeared, he shut the projector off in disgust.

"That young man ... is ... me," said Yosho.

"Correct, my friend," said the spirit, "But why aren't you with your family?"

"Because my father left me here every Startica," said Yosho.

"Every Startica that is, except for one," said the spirit. As she said that, a young woman with dark green hair and bright blue eyes walked up to the young man. She was one of the women that the younger Yosho had been looking at a picture of: his sister Kiyone.

"Yosho! There you are!" Kiyone said to Yosho's younger self.

"Kiyone!" Young Yosho said happily, hopping to his feet and embracing his sister, "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to take you home, brother," Kiyone replied.

"But ... does father know you are here?" Young Yosho asked.

"Who do you think sent me?" said Kiyone.

"But why?" asked Young Yosho, "He's always blamed me for mother's death. I mean, I was just a baby! I had no control over what happened! She died giving birth to me."

"Because he's dying, Yosho," Kiyone said quietly, "I was with him when he found out about it. He no longer blames you for mother's passing. He would like for you to come home so he can make his peace with you before he too passes away. He told me that you'll never have to come back here again."

"Home ... it's been so long since I've been there," he murmured, "I have to get my belongings together."

"No need," said Kiyone, "Azaka is already getting them."

"But what if I didn't--"

"But I knew you wouldn't," Kiyone interrupted him, "I know you better than anyone. Now let's get going. If we hurry, we can catch the Startica Festival on the first day."

"Oh, Kiyone was the best sister anyone could've ever had," our present-day Yosho said to the spirit, "She really did know me better than anyone."

"She really was your best friend and sister all rolled together," the spirit said, "But there was another who was even more important to you..." As the spirit said this, the scenery before them faded from the campus to an office party. Merry tunes were being provided by a delightful band called "Aya and the Funky Club", or AFC. The band was currently playing a fast-paced song called, "My Playful One", and people danced and clapped their hands to the music.

Those who weren't clapping or dancing were probably enjoying the wonderful feast. A table at the back wall was heaped with all manner of summer treats, from zucumber salad to shaved ice covered with syrup. And of course, it wouldn't be a feast without some delicious Roast Beast. A banner above the table read "Happy Startica from Kuramitsu Security Corporation".

When our present-day Yosho realized where he was, he almost became as giddy as a schoolboy. "This is old Kuramitsu's place!" he said excitedly, "This is where I got my first job. There's the old man himself." He pointed to an old, blonde-haired and well-tanned gentleman with pointed ears and a beard.

The spirit said to Yosho, "Judging from the tone of your voice, he must have paid you well."

"No it wasn't that," said Yosho, "It was the way he treated us and made us feel. Never was there a kinder and friendlier man."

"And what did this party cost him? 500, 600 Jurai?" the spirit asked.

"Well ... I..." Yosho stammered.

He stopped trying to answer so he could hear Kuramitsu say, "And now I'd like you all to give a round of applause to my lovely wife, Misaki, who made this all possible!" At that, Misaki stood up, revealing that she was dressed in robes like Tsunami's (for those of you unfamiliar with Juraian custom, Tsunami is to Startica what Santa Claus is to Christmas). If Yosho had not been so busy reminiscing, he might have noticed that Misaki's lovely Tsunami costume looked very much like the Spirit of Startica Past's attire.

The party guests applauded. "Thank you all!" Misaki exclaimed joyously, throwing her arms open, "And now everyone come forward and give Tsunami a big hug and tell her what you want for Startica."

Everyone in the room had a big laugh.

"No, really, I'm serious," said Misaki.

Everyone got another big laugh.

"NO, REALLY! I MEAN IT!" Misaki exclaimed.

Everyone in the room teardropped and lined up for their "huggle".

Yosho laughed. "And she was such a kindly woman, even if she believed in Tsunami," he said to the spirit.

"Oh, so you don't believe in Tsunami, huh?" said the spirit, sounding fairly unhappy.

"How do you know if Tsunami exists, spirit?" said Yosho.

"I think, therefore I am," said the spirit, crossing her arms, "But that's not important right now! What is important is what I brought you all this way to see. Over in the corner. You recognize those two young people?" Tsunami (for that is indeed who she was) then directed Yosho's gaze over to his younger self and a beautiful, dignified young lady with long violet tresses.

"Aeka..." said Yosho, his eyes widening with recognition.

The laughter and clapping died down as the band played a much slower and softer song, "Meet Me at Dream Lake". Everyone who was not dancing to this song quietly watched all the couples who were beginning to waltz. Everyone, that is, except for Young Yosho, who was standing off to the side and happily gazing into Aeka's eyes. From the look on his face, one could tell that he thought everything about the moment was just perfect, especially the woman he was with. "Here, Aeka," Young Yosho said, handing her a small box, "I have a gift for you. Happy Startica."

"Now, Yosho," said Aeka, her full lips pouting slightly, "We both agreed. No gifts. You insisted."

"Well, I changed my mind," said Young Yosho, smiling shyly, "Please, take it."

"Alright, but remember, you said no gifts," said Aeka. With her slender fingers she opened the box and removed from it ... a ring. A very beautiful ring of gilded Juraian wood, with patterns of leaves and small flowers carved into it. She gasped. "Oh, Yosho ... you really shouldn't have. This must have cost you a fortune."

"A fortune?" Tsunami said, raising an eyebrow at our present-day Yosho, "Is this the same man who now won't even give a poor little beggar some spare change?"

"Now look here!" said present-day Yosho, "I ... I mean you ... I ... er, uh..."

Present-day Yosho gave up and went back to listening to Aeka.

"It really makes me wish I had something to give you for Startica," she was saying, her gaze fixed on the floor and her cheeks pink.

"You already have something to give me..." Young Yosho said softly, taking the ring from her hand and preparing to slip it onto her delicate finger, "Your hand in marriage. Will you--"

Aeka's head snapped up, revealing that her crimson eyes shone with tears. "Yes! I will!" she shouted before he could finish. Blushing even more deeply than before, Aeka moved in closer to Young Yosho. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Young Yosho interrupted her with a kiss. Judging from the way her ears were now turning pink as well, it was probably the nicest way she had ever been interrupted in her life. Young Yosho wrapped his arms around Aeka's small form, and after a moment Aeka rested her hands on his chest, before sliding them around to his back.

A large paper cabbit hung from the ceiling. It was supposed to split open at midnight, but somehow the paper cabbit opened early, and silver confetti came forth. The confetti spilled into the room and surrounded the happy couple with what appeared to be a little shower of stars.

The explanation for the confetti's early appearance came a moment later, when Misaki, still holding onto the stick she had used to poke the paper cabbit, suddenly ran up and huggled Aeka and Young Yosho.

"You two will make such a cute couple!" Misaki said, her smile looking wide enough to engulf the entire Roast Beast, "When's the wedding?"

"Ah, such a happy scene..." said Tsunami, "but now we must depart..." As she said this, mist began to form around them.

"Where are we going?" present-day Yosho asked her.

"To the time where you partnered with ... him," Tsunami answered. The mist cleared, revealing that they were standing in a room with Young Yosho and Kagato. This was not the ghost that had approached Yosho before, but a young Kagato with black hair. Back then, he looked much like Young Yosho.

"Come now, Yosho. We could buy this place out from under the old man." Kagato was saying.

"Come on, we can't sell out like that," said Young Yosho, "We gave him our word to remain loyal to him no matter what!"

"THAT was our OLD word," Kagato declared, "Our new word is MONEY! By this time next year, you'll be able to give that fiancée of yours a Startica wedding like she's never seen!"

"Hmmmmm ... When can we take over?" said Young Yosho.

"By this time tomorrow, you'll be a partner in the Kagato and Yosho Loan Office!" said Kagato. Just as he uttered those words, a young Noboyuki entered the room.

"Mr. Yosho?" said Noboyuki.

"Yes? What is it?" said Young Yosho.

"The hospital just called. Your sister just gave birth to a son..."

"HA-HAA!" Young Yosho crowed, "You owe me 50 Jurai, Kagato!"

"SIR! There's more..." Noboyuki added with a very depressed look on his face, "The doctor said she will not make it through the night."

Young Yosho opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. He gave up and dashed out the door, leaving Kagato and Noboyuki behind.

"So, Mr. Noboyuki," Kagato said after a moment of silence, "we'll be cutting back on personnel when we take over. I'd like to keep you on. You're the best young accountant here."

"Thank you, sir," said Noboyuki. Under his breath, he added, "Great, there go the art classes..."

"You see what kind of man he was?" Tsunami said to present-day Yosho, "Your dear sister was dying, and he had the nerve to discuss terminating the jobs of twenty people!"

"So what of it?" said present-day Yosho, "It's not like he was the father!"

"Thankfully," said Tsunami, "But still, he was a close friend of hers. The least he could've done was offer his condolences!"

"You're right," said present-day Yosho, his face looking as if he just had a revelation, "He didn't even attend her..."

"Don't worry about that now," said Tsunami, "There's something else you must see." Mist surrounded the two again. When it cleared, they were in a room where all was white and quiet. It was Kiyone's hospital room. Kiyone was lying on a bed, as white and quiet as the rest of the room.

"No, spirit!" said Yosho, "Not here! Why did you bring me here?"

"It is you who have brought us here. This is something you must hear..." Tsunami said.

"Yosho ... is that you?" Kiyone said weakly. She turned to look at Young Yosho, whose eyes began to water when he saw that her face was as pale as the snow white pillow that her head rested upon.

"Yes, Kiyo, it's me." Young Yosho replied softly, taking her hand. It, too, was completely drained of color, and Young Yosho stared at it in disbelief.

"I ... haven't much time..." Kiyone whispered.

"Nonsense, Kiyo," said Young Yosho, worry making him speak in an unnaturally loud voice, "You'll make it...You MUST make it!" He fixed his eyes upon Kiyone's hair. Her face and hand were white, the sparkle was gone from her eyes, and her voice had been reduced to the most fragile of whispers. Only her hair was the same as it had always been: a rich, dark green. And so, Young Yosho gazed at her hair, not looking at the anguished expression on his sister's face. He did not see her pleading eyes, which showed how much she wanted to gaze into his eyes for as long as she could (which clearly was not much longer), and how she wanted to say so, but was too weak.

Our present-day Yosho, however, could see this. He tried to will his younger self to look at her, to treasure seeing that face while he could, drained though it was, but the young man would not look up. But of course he didn't ... present-day Yosho was powerless to change something that had already happened. All he could do was wring his hands and watch helplessly. It was Kiyone's voice that finally stirred the younger man, though it took her several tries before Young Yosho heard her.

"Yosho, I..." Kiyone winced with pain and drew in a sharp breath, then resumed speaking after a moment, "I ... have a favor to ask of you..."

"Anything," said Young Yosho, forcing himself to look at his sister's colorless visage again.

It took a while before Kiyone was able to summon the strength to speak again. When she finally did, her voice was even fainter than before.

"Please ... Yosho, I-I want to--" Kiyone winced again, then let out a weak yell of pain as her hand slipped out of Young Yosho's and fell back to the white sheets.

"Kiyo?" Young Yosho shook her, then shook her again. "KIYO!"

No response.

Young Yosho despondently stood up and headed for the door. On his way out, the newborn boy started crying. Young Yosho looked over at the healthy child with a gaze that was almost hateful and accusing, then hurriedly left the room.

"Oh ... what did I just do?" said present-day Yosho, his voice a haunted whisper.

"You blamed that innocent child for your dear sister's death, just as your father blamed you for your mother's," Tsunami said sadly.

"Take me from here!" present-day Yosho pleaded.

"Not quite yet," said Tsunami. She directed Yosho's attention back to Kiyone, who was still weakly uttering her request. The baby suddenly stopped crying, as if realizing the importance of this moment.

"Please ...Yosho..." Kiyone said in a tremulous whisper, her eyes closed from the effort of speaking, "Look after my ... boy..."

Silence.

Then, a last bit of movement came from her body: a tear rolled down from the corner of her eye and landed on her pillow. It vanished into the pillowcase, and all was quiet and white again.

"You didn't even hear her dying request," said Tsunami, shaking her head.

An overpowering wave of remorse overcame our present-day Yosho. He was now standing directly over the bed, and was quite surprised when several tears that fell from his eyes actually landed on the pillow. He had not thought that he could have any effect at all on the room. The pillowcase did not absorb the tears, though, and so they stared back at him, dirty and unworthy to join the white tranquility that had enveloped his sister. "Forgive me, Kiyo. I didn't know!"

Tsunami put her arm around him and comforted him. "Don't worry. She already has."

"Show me no more, spirit! Take me home!" he pleaded again.

"I will, but we have more stops to make," Tsunami said gently. More mist surrounded them. When it cleared, they stood in Yosho's office, about 9 years after Kiyone's death. The calendar read Startica Eve. Young Yosho was minding his own business (in the literal sense at that) when Aeka stormed in and delivered a perfect Yuriko Starr-esque open handed slap to his face, knocking Young Yosho out of his chair.

"She hit me!" present-day Yosho exclaimed.

"You bastard!" said Aeka, glaring accusingly at Young Yosho, "Why didn't you send for Tenchi to come home from that private school you sent him to? It's Startica! And his birthday! And the day his mother died!"

"Because he's falling behind in his studies!" Young Yosho replied, rubbing the red area on his face where she had struck him.

"You call an A- average 'falling behind'?" Aeka shouted incredulously.

"Are you questioning my decision?!" Young Yosho roared.

"As your wife and the closest thing Tenchi has to a mother, YES I AM!"

"You watch your tongue with me! I am your husband!"

"And I am your wife, but after the way I've seen you treat your only living blood, I'm not sure I want to be that anymore!" Squeezing back angry tears, Aeka took off her ring and threw it into Young Yosho's face. "I'm leaving you, Yosho! You can come back to me when you've learned how to be a better human being! And I'm taking Tenchi with me! Have a good life! I hope your riches bring you as much happiness as I once did!"

A sob escaped from Aeka's throat, but she quickly choked it down. Standing straighter than before, she turned around and stormed out of the office. Young Yosho immediately ran out after her, shouting, "Fine! Leave! SEE IF I CARE!! And you can KEEP that little brat! I don't need HIM in MY life!"

"NO, you fool!" present-day Yosho shouted at his younger self, even though Young Yosho could not hear him, "You should've apologized! Even if she did slap you!"

"If I weren't such a kind spirit, I'D have slapped you for that!" Tsunami said seriously.

This was becoming too much for our Yosho. To see the drastic difference between the way his younger self had just shouted at Aeka, and the loving way his even younger self had treated her at Kuramitsu's party...

Tsunami must have noticed Yosho's distress, for she rested a hand on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Young Yosho stormed back into the office. Kagato and Noboyuki looked at him as he came in. Kagato was the first to speak.

"Huh, women," Kagato snorted, "You can't live with them, and you can't kill 'em! For some reason, it's illegal."

"Noboyuki, promise me you'll never get married." Young Yosho grumbled.

"Uh, sir, I AM married," said Noboyuki.

"What?" said Young Yosho, "When did this happen? Last week?"

"Seven years ago, sir. Remember? I invited you? Aeka came."

"Oh, I remember," Young Yosho said, "Achika! Wasn't she an exotic dancer?"

"She was an artist model!" said Noboyuki.

"Well, a stripper by any other name still takes off her clothes for money," said Kagato. He and Young Yosho had a good laugh at Noboyuki's expense.

"Imagine, you two equating Achika to a cheap and tawdry stripper!" Tsunami said indignantly, taking her hand off Yosho's shoulder.

"It's a joke!" present-day Yosho protested, "Besides, she did have a beautiful body."

"And she still does, but that's beside the point!" said Tsunami, "Speaking of points, we have one more to make. Prepare yourself." Yes, it was time for that misty feeling again. ^u^ This time, they wound up ... BACK IN THE OFFICE!!!!! However, the Noboyuki and Yosho there appeared to be a little older. Kagato was conspicuous by his absence. "We're here!" Tsunami said.

"Where are we ... Wait! We were just here! We haven't gone anywhere!" said present-day Yosho.

"Um, Yosho, look at the calendar," said Tsunami, "It's four years later. Or just seven years ago. Whichever way you want to look at it."

"You mean that this is the day..." present-day Yosho began.

"When that bad influence passed on? Yes." Just as Tsunami spoke those words, a younger Nagi rushed into the office.

"Mr. Yosho?" said Nagi.

"Yes? What is it?" asked Young Yosho.

"It's Mr. Kagato, sir," Nagi replied, "The doctor says if you want to take your leave of him, you'd better go now, because he isn't expected to make it through the night."

"It's 5 o'clock," said Young Yosho, "The day's business ends at 8. I'll be there when the day's business ends."

Nagi blinked in surprise. "I'll see if the doctor can keep him alive until then, sir. Good day." As she walked out of the office and up to Noboyuki's desk, Nagi murmured, "You'd think he'd consider leaving work for a measly thirty minutes to see his friend before he dies!"

"How much longer does Mr. Kagato have?" Noboyuki asked softly.

"Only a few hours," she replied. Looking at the time, she added, "Well, I'd better be getting back. Good evening, and if it isn't keeping with the situation, you and the family have a Joyous Startica."

"You as well, Nagi," Noboyuki called after her as she left.

A few hours later, as the clock struck 8, Young Yosho said, "That's it for the day, Mr. Masaki. You may go home now. I suppose you'll be wanting to take tomorrow off."

Noboyuki nodded. "If it's not too much trouble, sir."

"Every summer, you say the same thing. And every summer it's as much trouble as the one before." Young Yosho grumbled.

"It's only once a year, sir, Noboyuki said softly, "And it's more for the family than for me."

"Very well," Young Yosho sighed, "You may go, then. But I expect you to be early the day after."

"Thank you, sir!" Noboyuki said.

"Yes, yes," Young Yosho said quickly, "Just lock up when you're done. I'll be off now. Good night." With that, Young Yosho left.

"I will, sir," Noboyuki called after him. But, instead of being excited, he was a bit despondent over Kagato's condition.

"Look at him," said Tsunami, "He was showing more grief for an abusive boss than you did for a close friend."

"He always was such a loyal employee," said present-day Yosho.

"Yes, and you two abused that loyalty by having him do the work of three people," said Tsunami, "He had such great potential to become an artist and you two crushed that dream!"

"Well, why doesn't he just leave then?" said present-day Yosho.

"Because nobody will hire him without a degree and because no one else will work for you!" Tsunami replied.

"Oh ... am I really THAT bad to work for?" asked present-day Yosho, looking around, "I give him Startica off every summer!"

"Yes, but most employers give their people THREE days off!" said Tsunami, "Now come on, for we must go to Kagato's..." And mistily, they did. They saw Kagato in bed, with Nagi standing next to it. When the door alarm went off and Nagi was about to leave to answer it, Kagato managed a grin and then "goosed" her. Nagi, offended, slapped his hand away.

"You dirty old man!" Nagi exclaimed, "I already told you! I'll never sleep with you! I don't care how close to death you are!" With that, she walked out and headed for the door. "GEEZE!!!" she added to herself.

"Wait!" said present-day Yosho, "Kagato's ghost said he slept with her! Even in death, Kagato lies!"

"Well, what did you expect? That's all he did in life!" said Tsunami. She and present-day Yosho then turned their attention back to Nagi.

"Who is it?" Nagi was saying at the door.

"It's me," said Young Yosho, "Let me in!"

Nagi opened the door and Yosho immediately headed up the stairs. When he reached the top, he encountered a tall, elfish-looking man with narrow eyes. What, you need a name? Very well, we shall call him Tessei.

"Are you the doctor?" Young Yosho asked.

"No, sir," said Tessei, "I'm the undertaker."

"Aren't you a little early?" said Young Yosho.

"Ours is a competitive business, sir," said Tessei, "You have to get to them before they die if you want to make it."

"Well, I won't argue with you there!" said Young Yosho.

"You'd better hurry," Nagi said grimly, leading Young Yosho to Kagato's bed, "The boss is on his last legs."

"Yosho? Is ... that you?" said Kagato, taking his friend's hand.

"Yes. How are you, old friend?" said Young Yosho.

"I'm ... dying ... you fool!" Kagato said.

"Dying?" Young Yosho said lightly, "You can't die. It'd be bad for business!"

"No ... no jokes ... something ...you ... must knooooow..." said Kagato, struggling for breath.

"What? What is it?" Young Yosho asked.

"We ... were wrong..." Kagato whispered.

"Wrong? Wrong about what?"

"No ... we were wrong..."

"Well, we can't be right about everything," said Young Yosho, frowning.

"Yosho ... before it's too late..."

"Late? Late for what?!"

"It's not ... too ... late for ... youuuuuuuuu..."

He never finished.

Young Yosho tore Kagato's hand away from his, as if the man's death was contagious. As Young Yosho left the room, Tessei entered, took the time of death, and started measuring Kagato.

"See what the two of you did with life?" Tsunami said quietly, "Kagato was so busy trying to cheat his fellow man out of his hard-earned money that he never raised a family. You were the only person named in his will, and he left you everything. And before Kagato was in his grave for a day, you were moved in. The saddest part of it all is that you HAVE a family, but you are too busy to even acknowledge him."

"Please, take me home. I don't wish to see any more," our present-day Yosho said.

"As you wish," said Tsunami. There was more mist. When it cleared, they appeared back in Yosho's room. "My time with you is at an end. Please heed well what I have shown you, my friend." As Tsunami kissed him on the forehead, she transformed into mist and slowly dissipated. When all of the mist cleared, all traces of Tsunami were gone, save for the scent of trees and flowers that had surrounded her at all times, and Yosho was back in his bed.

With Tsunami's departure comes the end to the first part of our tale. When we return, we shall see what the other two spirits have to show Yosho. But already, something was beginning to stir deep within Yosho's heart. Was it the return of the compassion that Yosho had lost? Perhaps. Or perhaps it was merely heartburn brought on by an undigested blot of beef, a crumb of mustard, a bit of cheese, some kind of potato... oh, forget it. At any rate, we shall have to wait to see what happens next.

We hope to see you there, too.

---

Authors' notes: So, what did you think? Please send your feedback.

Oh, and special thanks go to Lesell Charis and K'thardin for prereading! Thanks for all your help! The next round of Amanese rum is on us!

[Yayoi Toreishi walks onto the stage]

Yayoi: Oh, you think this is funny, huh? Well, I'll tell you what's not funny! Seion just looked over the Kiyone deathbed scene that Lita Eagle wrote and is at home crying his eyes out like a baby! ... Heh, I guess it is a little funny. ^u^


	2. Part 2

GALAXY POLICE WARNING: Tenchi Muyo is copyrighted by Pioneer LDC and AIC. This story is based upon the characters from Tenchi Muyo and the book "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. There! We've done our disclaimer. Ya happy now?

A STARTICA SONG (Part 2)  
by  
Patrick "Seion" Stewart and Literary Eagle

Greetings, dear readers! It warms our hearts to see that you have returned to find out what happens next in our tale. (Um ... it *was* because you liked Part 1, and not because we're serving free Amanese Rum, right?) When we last saw Yosho, Tsunami had just left him, and he was awaiting the arrival of the two other spirits who were supposed to visit him on this night. Will they be able to help Yosho have a change of heart? We shall see. Hope you enjoy the story! (Or, for those of you who are just here for the Amanese Rum, we hope you enjoy the drinks, at least.)

Yosho waited in his bed for the clock to strike two. "Come on, you infernal contraption! Hurry up!" he snarled at the timepiece. He began to count down the seconds: "8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 8 ... What the? ... 25?"

His clock's second hand was jumping around from second to second.

"Something's not ... 2? Someone's playing a joke on me! Nagi! Well she isn't gonna get away with it!"

Yosho got up and stomped over to the door. "She's REALLY going to pay for--" He broke off when he opened the door and saw that his lounge had been transformed for the second time that night, this time into a hi-tech wonderworld. Computer terminals of various kinds were everywhere, displaying everything from volcanic activity to video games. Little robots could be seen flying, walking, rolling, hopping and hovering amongst all the computers, as if performing a perfectly timed dance of gleaming silver and moving gears. However, Yosho didn't notice all the noise from the mechanical symphony of the 'bots, because it was mostly drowned out by loud techno music. But then, he didn't even notice the music that much, due to all the strobe lights flickering in his face. (Oh yeah, and there was a very beautiful red-tressed woman wearing a lab coat - and not much else - sitting in the middle of it all. Ya think she might also have been a distraction?)

"Oh, you're here early," the woman said, her catlike eyes shining with a mischievous emerald fire, "Have a seat, my boy." As she moved her arm to indicate the floating cushion next to her, the top button of her lab coat came undone, revealing even more of her cleavage than before. Not that such a thin white lab coat left much to the imagination anyway.

"Eh-heh-heh ... I'm going back to bed." Yosho stammered, feeling a rather interesting combination of annoyance, confusion, and nervousness all at the same time. He quickly closed the door, headed back to his bed, and ducked under the covers again ... only to find that the redheaded woman was also under the covers, wearing a pair of wire-framed glasses ... and NOTHING else.

"It's about time you got here, Yosho," the woman said in a seductive tone.

"How-how-how did you get in here?" Yosho stammered, now feeling a rather embarrassing combination of fright, confusion, and arousal all at the same time.

"What's the matter?" the woman pouted, "Do you not like the intellectual type? How about this, then?" Out of thin air, she suddenly conjured up what could best be described as a phantom computer. She pressed a few buttons on this phantom computer, and a Juraian noblewoman's robes instantly appeared on her. "Maybe you prefer a demure and cultured Juraian?" she asked. (This despite the fact that she wore the robes open, meaning that she didn't really look all that demure.)

She hit a few more buttons, and changed into a Galaxy Police officer's uniform. "Or a strict, disciplined GP?" she asked with a wink, dangling a pair of handcuffs in front of him. She tapped at her computer's keys again, this time changing into the outfit of a typical Amanese woman. "Maybe you like women with a lot of animal magnetism..."

She then pressed a few more buttons and changed into a tight-fitting nurse's outfit. "I know! You like the nurturing type!" she cackled, pulling on a latex glove with an ominous snap.

Finally, she changed not only her clothes, but also her body, so that Yosho was now looking at a 12-year-old girl wearing off-white slacks, a blue jacket with a red bow, and a blue hat that she had tucked her hair into. "I got it!" she said triumphantly, "You like little girls! You'll probably take me to a secret club somewhere and do all sorts of unspeakable things to my young and beautiful body!"

"WILL YOU STOP THAT?!!!" Yosho snapped. His feelings of fright, confusion, and arousal had changed into just plain irritation.

"Tsunami was right," the girl snorted, "You have no sense of humor. Very well." With that, she changed back into an adult, this time wearing a dark pink dress and a purple coat with rings of gold around the collar, upper arms, and wrists. "Idiot!" she fumed.

Yosho blinked. "Tsunami? How do you know about her?" he asked.

"I'm the second spirit, Washu." was the reply. And with that, two little dolls that resembled the redheaded spirit suddenly sprang onto her shoulders. They moved like marionettes, but without strings. One Washu "puppet" was marked A, and the other was B.

"The Spirit of Startica Present!" Puppet A said in a higher, squeakier version of Washu's voice.

"And she's cute, too!" Puppet B added in a similar voice.

"WASHU! WASHU! GO! GO! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" both puppets cheered.

"I thought you spirits were supposed to be helpful and courteous," Yosho complained.

"Well you were wrong, weren't ya?" Washu grinned, while her puppets disappeared as suddenly as they had popped up.

"Why are you spirits so intent on me changing?" asked Yosho, sighing and rubbing his temples, "I tell you, I'm too old to change. Why can't you look for a younger man more worthy of your help?"

"Like to, but I can't," said Washu, "Mr. Kagato asked us to do a job for him and thatsa what we're a'gonna do!"

"Very well," said Yosho, shoulders slumping in defeat. Under his breath, he added, "Lousy Kagato..."

"Enough grumbling! Let's get going!" said Washu.

"Where to?"

"We're goin' party hopping, my boy!"

"Party hopping?" asked Yosho, as Washu hit some buttons on her phantom computer.

"HERE ... WE ... GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" Washu's voice rang in Yosho's ears. The entire room lit up with such intensity that everything turned white. When the light went back to normal, Yosho and Washu were standing in the middle of a party in full swing. Tenchi's Startica party, to be exact. The room was full of obviously alien men and women, most likely friends of Tenchi's from his job at the Jurai Embassy Complex. They were all enjoying themselves and making quite merry. Just as it had been with his travels with Tsunami, Yosho noticed that nobody seemed to be able to see him or Washu. Several people even walked right through him.

A band was playing a catchy, upbeat tune called "Party Time with Oaky Dude". Tenchi and his wife Ryoko were dancing with each other, while others looked on and whispered their admiration of the charming couple's skill (especially Ryoko, who looked absolutely stunning as she twirled in her flowing white dress). Ryoko spun away from Tenchi, her gold anklet shining like a ring of light. She then returned to him, swinging her leg up and resting her foot on Tenchi's shoulder with a mischievous grin. Tenchi grinned back and suddenly undid Ryoko's anklet, then detached himself from her and ran away with it. Ryoko growled in pretend anger and chased after him. The party guests all laughed.

The room was not only filled with the happy sounds of laughter and music, but also the absolutely mouth-watering scents of Roast Beast and other popular holiday dishes. Tenchi's serving robot, Yukinojo, came down from the ceiling and used a couple of his retractable appendages to slice a rather large liquidmelon (that's the Juraian equivalent of a watermelon, folks) to help satisfy the appetites of the hungry party guests.

However, not all the guests' appetites were for food, as evidenced by the tall Amanese man who was hitting on a well-tanned, busty and bubbly blonde. In another part of the room, a very muscular, very short Deneign Warrior Priest with spiky white hair was scanning the crowd of party guests, paying close attention to the blue-haired women. He seemed to be looking for someone.

The sight of so many off-worlders almost made Yosho feel dizzy. "Where are we?" he asked Washu.

"Don't you recognize it?" Washu said incredulously, "Oh, that's right. You've never even been to your own nephew's home."

"Of course I haven't!" said Yosho, raising his voice, "The day he married that woman was the day I stopped concerning myself with his life!"

Washu pointed to Ryoko, who had recaptured her anklet and was now giving Tenchi a nice, long kiss. "You mean that woman?"

Yosho didn't say anything in reply.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Washu.

"She's an alien!" Yosho exclaimed.

"THAT'S your reason?" Washu scoffed, "How pathetic!"

"I had a perfectly fine Juraian Bride all picked out for him and he had the nerve to reject her!" said Yosho, scowling.

Washu scowled in return. "You mean SAKUYA?!! BLECH!!!"

"And what's wrong with Sakuya?" said Yosho.

"Well, for one she's BORING!!!!" said Washu, "She's completely devoid of color, has little personality, and, well, it seems she was created for the sole purpose for Tenchi to fall in love with and marry! You didn't create her in a lab, did you?"

"Are you a lunatic or something?" said Yosho.

"Na ... just a little mad," said Washu, smiling, "Just watch. You may find a very good reason to like Ryoko."

They watched as Ryoko and Tenchi went back to dancing, this time to a song called "Minty and the Peachy Keen Jellybean".

"So, this is what you call 'Startica'?" Ryoko was asking Tenchi.

"Heh, I just wanted to make sure your first Startica was a memorable one," said Tenchi, "Startica Parties are usually more sedate than this."

"How so?" asked Ryoko. As soon as she said that, the Amanese man, one Seion, came up and slapped his host on the back.

"Well, for one, most Startica parties don't have Amanese guests at them," Tenchi grunted, rubbing his back where Seion had hit him.

"You talk as though I'm gonna cause trouble," said Seion, trying to look innocent (and doing a pretty lousy job of it), "Now come, I have a present for you, our host."

"What is it?" asked Tenchi.

"A bottle of the finest Amanese Rum in the galaxy, my friend," said Seion, holding up the bottle. (He held it in the hand that *didn't* slap Tenchi on the back. You didn't think that we'd have him hit Tenchi with a bottle, did you?)

"Heh, I already have some," said Tenchi, going behind the bar and pulling out a bottle of 'Pale Amanese Rum', "The same type my Uncle says is the best in the Galaxy."

"Tenchi," said Seion, scrutinizing the label on the bottle, "I don't mean to be insulting, but this stuff of your Uncle's is crap. He's getting ripped off."

"WHAT??!!!!" Yosho shouted, "Clay is charging me 75 Jurai a bottle for that stuff!" Much to Yosho's annoyance, Washu chuckled at this, and those puppets of hers popped up and joined in.

"Well," said Ryoko, shrugging, "I tried to tell him the one time we met that if he'd shell out the extra 15 Jurai, I could get the REAL good stuff for him."

"Huh?" said Tenchi, staring at Ryoko in disbelief, "Why didn't you tell me? I though you only imported arts and crafts."

"Now what fun would it be if you learned all of my secrets at once?" Ryoko laughed.

"I guess life would be very boring if I knew everything about you," Tenchi conceded, laughing with her.

"And besides, Amanese Rum *is* considered a work of art," Ryoko said with a wink, "Oh, that reminds me. It's almost time for your guest of honor to show up." Just as she said that, there was a knock at the door.

Yura, their housekeeper, opened the door, and standing there was an older but still quite attractive Aeka. She wore a long, sleeveless black dress that showed off her figure better than traditional Juraian clothing would have. A small diamond broach over her heart looked like a miniature pinwheel of stars against the black background provided by the dress, and a matching pendant dangled from a velvet ribbon around her throat. Her violet tresses were piled on top of her head and set in place with several gilded wooden combs, except for a silky purple tail of hair draped over one bare shoulder. The result was a sight that caused a good number of the party guests to fall silent and watch with quiet awe as she entered. Aeka was followed in by her two valets: Kamidake, a young Juraian man with brown hair, and Kintarou, also a Juraian, but with waist length blond hair and pale green eyes.

"Aunt Aeka!" Tenchi said happily, walking over to Aeka and giving her a warm embrace, "I'm glad you could make it."

By some strange coincidence, the band began to play "Meet Me at Dream Lake", the song that had been playing when Yosho had proposed to Aeka at another Startica party, years ago.

"Aeka..." Yosho whispered, "She's still as beautiful as I remember..."

"Let me get this straight..." said Washu, frowning, "you traded her for MONEY? There's a word we use for choices like that..." Washu tapped a few buttons on her phantom computer, and a giant tanuki statue fell onto Yosho. "WRONG!" she finished.

Washu then removed the statue so that Yosho could hear Tenchi saying, "Yura, you can go home now. We will no longer require your services for the rest of the night. And here's a little something for Startica." Tenchi handed her a package, and knowing how generous Tenchi was, one could guess (correctly) that it was something nice.

"Thank you, sir!" said Yura, smiling, "And I hope you enjoy your Startica as well! Good night, sir, ma'am." Yura then took the package and departed.

"Remind me of what you got Nagi..." Washu said to Yosho, tapping her finger on her chin as if trying very hard to remember, "I believe it was..." With the pressing of a few computer keys, Washu suddenly transformed into a cheerleader and shouted, "N-O-T-H-I-N-G! NOTHING! NOTHING! BoooOOOOOOOO!!!! NOTHING!!!!!"

"Nagi doesn't care whether I get her a present or not!" Yosho snapped.

Just then, Nagi, who happened to be at the party, turned to Tenchi and said, "You get presents for your servants? Hah! That cheap bastard I work for got me nothing!" She walked over to Kintarou, handed him a drink, and said to him, "I'm really pissed off! I need a release! Kintarou, let's rock."

"YES MA'AM!" Kintarou said eagerly.

As Nagi led Kintarou off to someplace a bit more private, Washu commented, "Well, it looks like Nagi's getting something after all!"

"Why can't you be a little more sexually reserved like Tsunami was?" Yosho groaned.

That was when Tsunami's voice suddenly sounded from behind him, "I'll have you know I can be just as big an ojou-sama as any woman!"

"Ojou-sama..." said Yosho, sounding just a bit nostalgic, "now that term takes me back ... There was a time where Aeka would ... Hey, wait a minute! What are you doing here?!" Yosho said this last bit as he whirled around to find Tsunami standing there, looking quite ravishing in a forest green gown with a matching pashmina, and feather earrings.

"What?" said Tsunami, "Do you think us spirits spend all of our time waiting to rehabilitate people like you? Even the not-so-mortal have to have some fun. But don't mind me. I'm just a guest here." She then picked up a couple of drinks and walked over to the Deneign Warrior Priest that Yosho had noticed before. Yosho overheard Tsunami say, "Looking for someone, Cyraqs?". As a response, the short guy smiled and levitated about a foot in the air to kiss her.

The sight was just too weird for Yosho, who turned away and looked at some of the other party guests nearby.

"So, what's it like to be a newlywed, Ryoko?" asked Seion's female companion.

"Well, Mihoshi, it's a lot safer than the Juraian dating scene, that's for sure," Ryoko chuckled.

"Personally, I don't have much confidence in these new style newlywed couples," Tenchi said jokingly, "What do you think, Mr. Makibi?"

"Well," said Seion, flashing that certain smile of his that meant trouble, "being a wretched bachelor and therefore a miserable outcast, I'm not qualified to give an opinion ... Ne, Dear, Miss Kuramitsu?"

Mihoshi blushed. "Now-now, Seion. None of that..." she said. Into his ear, she added, "...until we get back to my place."

Meanwhile, Ryoko was handing drinks to everyone. "It's time for a toast," she said.

"Here's to Yosho!" said Tenchi, raising his glass.

Mihoshi blinked in surprise. "Why are you drinking a toast to him? He's a ... well ... a..."

"No, just say it," said Seion, "He's a weinie!"

"Why do you put up with him?" asked a man with puffy pink hair and a high, silly voice, "He's your relative but he never responds to any of your invites!"

"Well, I ... wait, who are you?" said Tenchi.

"I'm Seiryou, Ryoko's hairdresser."

"Oh..." said Tenchi, "well, anyway, I have to toast him. I mean, who's he really hurting by playing the hermit and not coming to the party? Only himself. He's cheated himself out of a wonderful party, a delicious dinner, and the company of lovely ladies."

"You should have seen him 25 years ago," Aeka said softly, "He used to go to Startica Parties like this all the time. Now he just..." Aeka trailed off as she began to cry. When she tried to wipe her eyes, her other hand accidentally tipped her wineglass too far, causing some of her drink to spill onto the floor. "I'm sorry, Tenchi," she managed to say, "I didn't mean to..."

Ryoko quickly wiped up the little spill and then rested her hand on Aeka's shoulder. Tenchi gave Aeka a quick hug. "Not to worry, Aeka," he said gently, "I understand. You still love him, don't you?"

Aeka remained silent.

"Why don't you say it, Aeka?" Yosho exclaimed, even though she could not hear him, "I need to know!"

Washu raised her eyebrows. "Well, didn't you once say, and I playback..." Washu hit a few buttons on her computer, and a screen popped up with a scene from the time Yosho and Aeka broke up. "Fine!" Yosho saw himself say, "Leave! SEE IF I CARE!! And you can KEEP that little brat! I don't need HIM in MY life!"

"Your exact words, I believe," Washu continued, "Why do you care if she still loves you? You have all that money! And that BIG, EMPTY, LONELY HOUSE!!! What a WINNER you are! You have EVERYTHING but nobody to share it with!" (Oh, by the way, folks, she's being sarcastic!)

"Alright! I get it!" Yosho shouted, "I'm a miserable old miser! Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"You said it, not me." Washu replied, shrugging.

Tenchi was speaking again. "Here's to Yosho. May he have a wonderful holiday no matter how miserable he tries to make it."

Cyraqs parted his lips from Tsunami's for just a moment, saying to Tenchi, "Don't worry. He will." As he said that, crying could suddenly be heard coming from one of the bedrooms.

"Well, it looks like Yui wants to join our party," said Ryoko, "I'll go get her." Ryoko exited the room and reentered a few moments later with a baby girl.

"Tenchi and her have ... a child?" said Yosho, clearly surprised.

"You didn't know?" said Washu, rolling her eyes in disbelief, "He sent you a birth announcement! And he tries to tell you every time he gets a chance. Oh well. That's whatcha get for disowning your nephew." But as she talked, Yosho moved over to where Ryoko was holding Yui. The baby had cyan hair and yellow eyes, but despite the fact that she had Ryoko's coloring, she reminded Yosho of someone else.

"She looks just like ... Kiyone." Yosho whispered.

"That reminds me," said Washu, snapping her fingers, "We have to get to our next stop."

"Not yet!" said Yosho, "I want to get a better look at her!"

"We're going NOW!" Washu said loudly, grabbing Yosho's ear.

"Drag him out by his hair, Washu!" said Puppet A, suddenly appearing on Washu's shoulder.

"Let's get going, Washu!" Puppet B said from Washu's other shoulder. And with that, Washu activated her Intense-Illumination Chrono-Teleportation Apparatus (her Bright Light Time Machine). There was a bright flash. When the light went back to normal, Yosho and Washu were in a graveyard.

"What?" Yosho exclaimed, "What are we doing HERE?"

"How fast we forget," said Washu, frowning, "Don't you remember what today is?"

"It's the Summer Solstice." Yosho replied.

"It's STARTICA!" Washu shouted, pulling a fan out of her sleeve and slapping Yosho on the head with it, "And it's also the anniversary of your dear sister's passing! When was the last time you came to her grave? 10? 12 years ago?"

"I can't come back here," said Yosho, rubbing his head, "There's too many bad memories."

"No, only one."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You remember what kind of person your sister was?" said Washu, "Kind, caring, patient, and wise beyond her years. And all you ever choose to remember about Kiyone is how she died. She wouldn't want you to remember her like that. Fortunately, her son still comes to visit her." Washu pointed to a fresh dozen of Royal Teardrop flowers planted around Kiyone's grave. "It's too bad Tenchi has never been told what kind of lady she really was," Washu continued, "It shoulda been you instead of her. At least then he'd have been with a loving, caring being who would have accepted Ryoko for the sole reason that they love each other. But I guess you got a fair tradeoff for your sister. I mean, you are sooooooooooo rich now. And you have all those friends, like Bill, and Buck, and Munney!"

"ALRIGHT! ENOUGH!" Yosho roared, "I don't need to hear about how I'm an evil money-hungry monster!"

"No, you're not evil," said Washu, narrowing her eyes, "At least an evil person cares about something, even if it is himself. You are just plain, old indifferent. You don't even care about yourself enough to let people get close to you. And that's just as bad as being evil." Washu looked at her Radial Chronometer (in other words, her wristwatch). "Whoah! Look at the time! We've got another party to get to! Let's go!" There was a bright light as they teleported again.

---

And now, dear readers, let us look at what is happening in the Masaki homestead. Achika was preparing dinner while the children - Mirei, Sagami, and Mayuka - were in the living room. Sagami was helping Mirei make Startica decorations, while Mayuka was looking out the window.

"One more cut, then you unfold it and ... you have a Startica Tree." Sagami demonstrated.

"Ah, I see," said Mirei, "Like this?" She unfolded a paper tree and handed it to her older brother.

"That's it," said Sagami, smiling and patting her on the head, "Nice job. Now all you have to do is decorate it."

"I'm gonna let Sasami do it," said Mirei, "It's her favorite part of making Startica Trees."

"Clean up, you two," Achika called, "Dinner will be ready soon."

"LOOK!" Mayuka shouted happily from her vigil at the window, "Here comes Papa and Sasami!"

"My, they seem to be in a hurry to get home," said Achika, laughing, "Hurry up and set the table, you two."

"I'll help get dinner on the table," said Mirei. She headed into the kitchen to help Achika, while Sagami and Mayuka set the table. Just as they finished, Noboyuki entered the house with Sasami on his back.

"We're home!" Noboyuki's cheerful voice called out.

"So you are," said Achika, smiling playfully, "And just where have you two been?"

"We went to see Tsunami!" Sasami exclaimed, getting down from her father's shoulders and smiling her priceless little smile, "She's gonna be in the Startica Parade!" Life was often difficult for such a poor family, but they were fond of saying that together they would always pull through, as sure as Tsunami being a part of the Startica festivities every year. It had become an annual ritual in the Masaki home that Sasami would have the honor of confirming that the patron saint of Startica would be in the parade.

"How wonderful!" said Achika, "I bet you'll wanna see the parade, right Sasami?"

"OH BOY!" Sasami shouted happily, "Can we, papa?"

"Well, I dunna..." said Noboyuki.

"Can we?" Mirei chimed in. She and Sasami gave their father that pleading look which cute, mischievous children all over the universe have mastered.

"I'm still not sure if we should..." Noboyuki said hesitantly.

"Please?" said Mayuka, standing beside her sisters and looking at her father with the same pleading look.

Ah, to have irresistibly cute girls gang up on you! Noboyuki didn't stand a chance. "Well, since you girls forced me into it... Alright, we can see it from the bridge!" he said.

Achika laughed. "Every year they ask you to see the parade ... and every year you fold faster than Oryo-chan on laundry day." She smiled, and her face lit up in such a way that it was obvious where Sasami had inherited her smile from.

"Well, you know that no man can resist three sets of puppydog eyes." Noboyuki grinned.

"What would I ever do without you, Mr. Masaki?" Achika said laughingly. Clearly she was a woman who knew the importance of smiling at the little joys that life had to offer. Noboyuki was a lucky man.

With a sudden flash of light, Yosho and Washu materialized in the room, unnoticed by the Masaki family. Washu had taken her time in transporting Yosho to this location because had she felt like sharing more of her wisdom. In fact, she was still talking. "...and that's all the stuff that's wrong with your generation. Now, as for Tenchi's..."

"We're here," Yosho interrupted her.

"What?"

"I said, 'We're here'."

"Oh, so we are," said Washu, clearing her throat.

Yosho sighed. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

Yosho frowned. "Well, can I ask you another one?"

"You just did again," said Washu, flashing that playful smirk of hers that Yosho found so irritating.

"Can I ask you one AFTER this question?" Yosho growled.

"Shoot!" said Washu, smirking again.

"Where is 'here'?" asked Yosho.

"Don't you know?" said Washu, "This is the home of your..."

"UNDERPAAAAAAAAAID!" Puppet A continued for her.

"OVERWOOOOOORKED!" Puppet B added.

"...employee, Noboyuki Masaki," Washu finished.

"What? You mean Masaki lives in THIS hovel?" Yosho said incredulously. He gestured at a crack in the ceiling, below which stood a pail obviously meant for catching any drops of summer rain that might leak through. "I pay him better than this!"

"Yeah, but they DO have bills to pay!" said Washu.

"Bills? Bills for what?!" Just as Yosho said that, Sasami hobbled right through Yosho and Washu.

"That's what!" said Washu, nodding at the limping child.

Yosho found himself unable to take his eyes off the girl. He watched Sasami smile brightly as she examined some of the paper trees that her siblings had made, but it was impossible to miss how her hands trembled slightly as she held the paper ornaments. "What the ... Nobuyuki never told me about this," Yosho whispered.

Washu raised an eyebrow. "Really? Letsee..." She hit a few buttons on her phantom computer, and it began to play back a few scenes from the past: "Mr. Yosho, it's about my little girl..." the image of Noboyuki said on the computer screen, then, "Mr. Yosho, my little girl is sick and I was wondering if..." followed by, "Mr. Yosho, I need to take my little girl to the hospital..." topped off with "Mr. Yosho, my little girl needs money to treat her illness...".

"And that was all in the past week," said Washu, making her computer vanish with an accusatory snap.

"Uh ... well ... um ... I, uh..."

"Yes, you certainly did," said Washu, crossing her arms.

Meanwhile, Achika was clapping her hands together for attention, saying, "Alright, children. Time for dinner."

"But what about the parade?" Sasami protested, disappointed.

"Dinner first," said Achika, gently but firmly leading Sasami to the table.

"Alright..." Sasami said softly, lowering her eyes.

"Now now. Chin up," said Achika, "Whatever your reason, I will not allow long faces in my house." She finished this with another of her beautiful smiles.

"Okay, Mommy," Sasami giggled, her smiling face mirroring her mother's.

A few minutes later, they sat down to dinner, and Yosho watched as Noboyuki led the family in saying grace: "...And finally, let us all give thanks to the person responsible for this meal, Mr. Yosho."

"What a nice thing to say," said Yosho, smiling triumphantly at Washu.

The smile was wiped off his face when he saw the rest of the family's reaction.

"To WHOM?" Achika exclaimed.

"PAPA!" said Mayuka, scowling.

"You can't be serious, father!" said Mirei.

"I'm very serious," Noboyuki responded.

"Mom, I think the pressure's getting to dad," Sagami muttered.

"I agree," said Achika.

"Hey now!" said Sasami, half-rising out of her seat to emphasize the importance of her words, "Papa's right! What if Mr. Yosho gave him a lot of money and lots of time off? If he did, moments like this would be less special! Right, papa?"

Noboyuki sweatdropped. "Uh... heh-heh. I think we can leave it at that." He patted Sasami's head.

"Alright," said Achika, "I'll give thanks to him then, but only because Sasami thinks it's a good idea. May he have the Startica he deserves! There. Is that better?" Her smile returned.

"Much," said Noboyuki, and everyone around the table was all smiles again.

After dinner, the entire family left to watch the Startica Parade. Yosho sighed, expecting that Washu would transport him outside to make him watch the festivities as well, but instead she simply stood there and continued her lecture on what was wrong with Tenchi's generation. Once she was done, the family had still not returned, so she began a lecture on what she predicted would be wrong with Tenchi's daughter Yui's generation. Yosho groaned and decided that he would have been better off watching the parade. He was beginning to wonder if Washu had read his thoughts and was punishing him for not wanting to see the parade, when to his relief the Masaki family suddenly came in through the door.

"That was fun!" said Mayuka, doing a little pirouette, "How much candy did you get from the people in the parade?"

"I got a whole pillowcase full!" Sasami announced.

"Only because father was helping you!" said Mirei.

"Wasn't it you who had help from Sagami?" said Achika, playfully poking Mirei in the ribs.

"Yeah, that's right!" said Mayuka, smirking and poking Mirei's other side.

"Yeah, but he's keeping all the Amanese Rum candy for himself!" said Mirei, pointing at her brother in mock accusation.

"I DID give you all the Juraian mint and cinnamon chocolate candies," Sagami said in his defense, "Besides, I have to get used to Amanese food if I'm to be stationed at the Juraian Embassy there."

"I know!" said Mirei, smiling and sticking her tongue out to show that she had only been teasing.

"Well," Achika said in a voice that meant something exciting was about to happen, "it's present time."

"I have something for you, mommy!" said Sasami, eagerly handing her a small package.

"What could it be?" said Achika. She unwrapped the little bundle and pulled out a beaded necklace with a wooden charm of a mother cabbit holding her baby. "Oh my. It's pretty!"

"Do you like it?" asked Sasami.

"I love it," said Achika, giving her daughter a hug, "Thank you, Sasami! Here's yours." She gave her a small box, which Sasami opened.

Sasami's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "You got me ... A MIDORI MEDIACRYSTAL!!!!" She excitedly pressed the side of it, and music began to play as images of children chasing butterflies were projected from the crystal. "But how did you get this? They don't sell these on Jurai."

"Well, they do if you order them from an art importer," Noboyuki smiled.

"You mean Mrs. Ryoko!" Sasami exclaimed happily, "Tsunami bless Ryoko! May Tsunami bless everyone!"

"Why are they so happy?" said Yosho, frowning in disbelief, "They live in a tiny apartment, they have a sick girl, and they have no money, according to you."

"Yeah," said Washu, "but they have something YOU can't buy. They have each other. Though in another year, they may not even have that."

Disbelief was replaced by a more sunken look on Yosho's face. "You don't mean that little girl will..."

"Kick the bucket? I'm afraid so."

"HOW THE HELL CAN YOU BE SO CALLOUS?"

"YOU are the one who has ignored her suffering all these years," said Washu, jabbing at Yosho's chest with her finger, "How the hell can YOU be so callous?"

"Is there nothing that can be done for her?"

Washu did a perfect imitation of an Earthling called John Madden (although the excellence of the performance was lost on Yosho) as she said, "Well, let's look at the replay on that one, Pat." With a tap on her phantom computer, she materialized a telestrator with a scene from earlier that day, when Mitsuki had visited Yosho's office asking for a donation to a children's charity. "Now, Yosho is gonna first use the selfish remark to get Mitsuki's attention and then completely break her diplomatic front up with a callous, inhumane statement." As she said this, she marked it on the screen.

"Why should they come and take money from my pockets?" Yosho saw himself saying to Mitsuki in the replay, "Better that they hurry up and die and decrease the surplus population."

"But I didn't include her!" Yosho protested, looking again at Sasami. It was like looking at the ghost of Kiyone.

Using her normal voice again, Washu said, "But you didn't EX-clude her either! If something doesn't happen soon, then there will be one less "burden" on the Juraian population!" With that, she teleported them outside. "Well, the clock says my time with you is coming to an end, but before I go, there is one last thing I must show you..."

Washu reached into her cloak and produced two small, fur-covered humanoids with long ears. What were they? Neither human nor cabbit, the pathetic creatures shivered and clung to Washu's legs. One of them, a female, had dark brown fur which hung off her body in places, revealing that underneath she was so thin that her ribs showed. She did not look directly at Yosho, but he could still see the hunger in her yellow eyes. The other one was probably male, judging from the different, slightly larger build. His whitish fur coat appeared healthier than the other creature's, but his red eyes stared vacantly at Yosho in a way that was most disturbing. Despite the summer heat, the pair continued to shiver as if they would never know warmth.

Yosho stared at them in horrified fascination. "Are these yours?"

"They are society's," Washu explained, "They cling to me for protection. The dark one is Want, the light one is Ignorance. Beware them both, but most of all, beware the light one."

"Is there nobody who will take care of them?" asked Yosho, "After all, this IS Startica, right?"

Washu scowled and stared at him coldly. "Why should that make a difference?" she shouted in a perfect imitation of Yosho's own voice. All traces of playfulness seemed to have left her.

Yosho was shocked. Why was she doing this? Had she given up on him? Yosho could not take it anymore, he ran off in fear, covering his ears as Washu's final words continued to echo through the street. He ran as fast as he could, even though somewhere deep down he realized that he could not run away from the one he was so afraid of facing ... himself. It was about this time when a very feminine but clawed hand stopped him. He was absolutely terrified by the sight.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" (See? We told you he was terrified!)

Yosho's fearful eyes followed the curved purple claws, looked along the arm that the claws belonged to, and finally stopped at the face of the one who had startled him so.

The serene features of Tsunami had radiated compassion and love of life. Washu's beauty had been able to move smoothly between playfulness and seriousness with catlike grace. This being was also beautiful, but ... different. Cold. The whites of her eyes were actually pale blue, almost giving the impression that they were made from ice. Certainly the stare that they were giving Yosho was enough to make him shiver like Want and Ignorance.

Her lips, thin and blood red, curled into a sneer at Yosho's nervous gaze, their redness looking even more striking because of the pale skin that they were set against. Light brown hair decorated with ornaments of gold and orange silk almost softened her appearance somewhat. Almost. She removed her hand from his shoulder, bringing her frightening claws back into view.

Somehow, Yosho regained his composure and spoke. "I would be standing in the presence of the Spirit of Startica Yet to Come?"

The spirit nodded in the affirmative.

"And you are here to show me the shadows of what will be?" asked Yosho.

The spirit nodded yes again.

"Alright..." Yosho said resignedly, "I shall come, but I'm telling you I'm too OLD to change. Is there any chance of you calling this off and taking me home?"

This time, the spirit shook her head in the negative. She was quite obviously a spirit of few words, but we can tell you that her name was Tokimi.

"No?" Yosho sighed, "Very well, then. Show me."

Tokimi opened her cloak, out of which darkness appeared and enveloped the two of them. When the light reappeared, they found themselves in a certain importer's place of business. Unfortunately, it was an importer who was less reputable than Ryoko.

"I know this place!" Yosho growled, "This is ... that thieving OCTOPUS Clay's! And to think, all these years he's been ripping me OFF!" As he spoke, Mitsuki and Nagi both entered the store. "Oh, good. Nagi and The Geepy are here to take him in! Good job, ladies!" He began clapping, but realized that their words would be a clue as to what the future held, and so he fell silent as they began to speak.

"Well, how are you today, Nagi?" said Mitsuki.

"I'm doing great," said Nagi, giving a small smile, "My new boss is a joy to work for."

"WHAT?" Yosho shouted at Nagi, even though she could not hear, "Why are YOU working for someone else?"

"Well, anyone's gotta be better than your OLD boss," Mitsuki said to Nagi.

"Indeed," said Nagi, barely managing to suppress a shudder. Just then, another person entered. It was Tessei, the undertaker. Yosho recognized him from the time Kagato had died.

Mitsuki snickered. "Imagine, all three of us showing up at the same time..." As she said this, Clay, having heard the sounds of customers, came out. "...The servant, the police officer, and the undertaker." Mitsuki finished.

Clay nodded at the trio, unknowingly causing the ridiculously large curls in his hair and beard to wave like the tentacles of an octopus. "Well, what can I do for you this fine Startica Morning?" he asked, his thick lips curving into what was probably supposed to be a polite smile. The smile didn't really help to make his octopus-like head any more pleasant to look at, though.

"Well, you see..." Nagi said in a low voice.

"Buying or selling?" asked Clay, wanting to cut straight to business. Not only was his smile not all that pleasant to look at, but he didn't seem capable of using it for very long.

"Selling," Nagi, Mitsuki, and Tessei all said at once.

Clay nodded, creating that silly octopus effect with his head again. "Alright, who's first?"

"Well, government employees first, Mitsuki," said Nagi. Her polite smile was far nicer than Clay's.

"Now, now," said Mitsuki, "You were here first, so you go, Nagi." Her polite smile was also very nice.

"No, I insist," said Nagi, "You first." She kept her polite smile, but she also began to laugh nervously.

"I couldn't possibly--" said Mitsuki. A large sweatdrop appeared over her head as she also kept her polite smile while laughing nervously.

Tessei cleared his throat. "I'LL go first, just to show we trust each other." The undertaker then pulled out a small bag and gave it to Clay.

"What have we here?" asked Clay, shaking the bag. Its contents clinked around as he did so.

"Solid platinum teeth," Tessei answered, "8 of them altogether."

"So, you ripped these right out of his mouth, eh?" Clay chuckled, obviously quite amused at the teeth's dead owner, "What a waste of money."

"I'll have you know that I have platinum dental work, and I don't consider it a waste!" Yosho said indignantly. In fact, he had thought that he was the only one in the city who had gotten that kind of dental work. Oh well.

Tokimi glared at him. She did not say a word, but the look she gave him seemed to say "You mean you have enough for platinum dental work but not enough money to donate to the Galaxy Police Orphans' Fund? You cheap bastard!"

Meanwhile, Clay had poured the teeth out onto the counter and was examining them carefully. "Hmmmm ... I'll give you ... 500 Jurai for the whole set."

"Come now, they are worth more than THAT!" Tessei protested.

"Yeah, but seeing as how they cost you nothing to get in the first place, 500 is a fair price," said Clay.

"Very well," said Tessei, "I'll take it." He held out his card, which Clay took and ran through a card reader, putting 500 Jurai into Tessei's account.

"Alright," said Mitsuki, "My turn." She handed Clay an antique watch.

"Wow!" said Clay, obviously impressed, "An Intergalactic Watch! They don't make them like this anymore. Hand carved Juraian casing, Solid Tritanium gears, Amanese Quartz movement, and all hand-assembled on Ryokan. These things were built to last for an eternity ... which is why the company went outta business. Few people could afford these things, and those that could, never needed a new one. No repeat customers."

"He's got a point there," said Yosho, thinking of the Intergalactic Watch that he owned. Come to think of it, he had been almost certain that he was the only person in this city who owned one. Oh well. "You can take these things and hit them with a hammer and they'll still work."

Tokimi gave him a glare that said, "You just don't get it, do you?"

Clay looked over the watch with his magnifying glass. "2000 Jurai, and not a leaf more," he declared. A leaf was a Juraian penny.

Mitsuki appeared satisfied. "Good. Make the payment to the GP Orphans' Fund."

"As always," said Clay.

"Now you know the only reason I don't turn you in is because you donate to the Fund," Mitsuki said seriously.

"It's my turn!" said Nagi, "Wait 'til you see what I've got..." She hefted a huge bag onto the table and dumped its contents out. "Now, where shall we begin?"

Clay began to sort through the pile. Several bottles of Pale Amanese Rum, a clock with the words "Close of Business" painted above the 8...

Yosho's eyes bulged. "Wait a minute! Those are MY things!" he roared, "That little bitch robbed me before she left! Why isn't Mitsuki doing something?!" Just then, it began to get dark. "WAIT! Where are we going?" Yosho exclaimed.

When the light returned, he and Tokimi were back in the Masaki home. Achika was in the kitchen making dinner, but her movements were slow and without enthusiasm. Mirei was making a paper Startica tree, while Mayuka looked out the window. Sagami, Noboyuki, and Sasami were nowhere in sight. Yosho guessed that they were not home yet, which was probably why Mayuka was at the window. Peering closely at the girls, Yosho suddenly noticed that the usual joy was gone from their faces; they had downcast expressions like their mother. What was wrong with them?

Mirei looked into the kitchen when she heard her mother drop a wooden cooking spoon and sigh. She saw the tears filling Achika's eyes, and noticed that her mother was clutching at the necklace she was wearing, the one Sasami had given her one year as a Startica gift. The one with a pendant depicting a mother cabbit holding her baby.

"Mother, are you alright?" asked Mirei, deeply concerned.

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine," said Achika, trying her best to compose herself, "It's just that these spices hurt my eyes." She wiped away her tears, then bent down and picked up the wooden spoon off the floor. "There. That's better."

"Papa's later than usual tonight," Mayuka said from the window.

Mirei joined her sister there. "Yes," she sighed, "He has been walking slower the past few nights. There were times I'd see him running home with Sasami on his back." At the mention of Sasami's name, Achika had to hold back more tears. A horrible suspicion entered Yosho's mind, but he tried to push it away.

"Look. There he is now," Mirei said a moment later. After a few minutes, Nobuyuki trudged into the room.

"Are you alright, Papa?" Mayuka asked worriedly.

"Yes, Mayuka," Noboyuki replied softly, "I feel much better now that I've visited the place where Sasami is to be laid to rest."

Yosho turned pale. "Oh my ... not that poor little girl. Not her!"

Tokimi gave Yosho a look as if to say "Yes, THAT poor little girl."

"How was it?" asked Mayuka.

"Oh, it's a nice place on a hill with a view of the bridge that the Startica parade goes over. And it's in the shade of a lovely tree," said Noboyuki. He seemed to be trying hard to control a slight trembling in his voice. "It sounds strange, but standing there, I felt at peace, as if Sasami herself was saying she was happy there, and that none of us should grieve over her because she ... she..." Before he could finish, though, all pretense collapsed and Nobuyuki broke down in tears. "Oh, my Sasami-chan..."

Achika and the girls ran over to him and tried their best to comfort him, but it was not long before they broke down crying themselves. Their first Startica without Sasami. She was no longer there to share her kind smile, or to say that everything would be alright because Tsunami was going to be in the Startica Parade, as always. Of course Tsunami was going to be in the Startica Parade. It was really Sasami's presence that had been what let them know that everything was going to be alright... A precious, fragile spark of life hanging on, giving hope... but now she was gone.

Yosho could not bear to look at the scene any longer. He turned away and looked at Tokimi. "I can't let this happen to that poor child! Tell me there's something I can do!"

Tokimi gave him a look that clearly said, "Why should you care? She's nothing to you."

"I don't care if she's nothing to me! I have to try!" Yosho exclaimed. But without warning, Tokimi's black mist enveloped them. When it cleared, they were in front of Yosho's house. The place had been ransacked of EVERYTHING. "What the hell..." Yosho sputtered, "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HOUSE?!!! Where are the police? Why aren't they doing anything?!"

There was a shattering sound, and Yosho tried to pinpoint the source of it. His gaze fell on Misao, the little beggar he had turned away in Part 1 of our story. He was shocked to see that the purple-haired girl was hurling rocks at his house. Most of her rocks were aimed at the windows. "Hey! She's that little waif who tried to get money from me this morning!" Yosho said to Tokimi, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of breaking glass, "Why's she doing this?! Doesn't she realize that I would have already called the police? She's going to get thrown in jail for robbery, and all she did was break a couple of windows!" To Misao, even though she could not hear him, he shouted, "GET OUTTA HERE, CHILD!!! THE POLICE ARE COMING!!"

And with that, sure enough a Galaxy Police car came down the street. Misao dropped the rock in her hand and ran into an alley, ducking behind a couple of crates. The car stopped and two officers emerged, stepping into the alley that Misao had run into. One of them was a furry brown humanoid with ears like a bat's, but Yosho paid little attention to him. He was busy gaping in surprise at who the other officer was. Sagami.

"Sagami?" said Yosho, "But he's supposed to be on Amano by now." He looked to Tokimi. "You must be wanting to tell me that he didn't have enough money to attend the Imperial Guard Academy so he joined the Galaxy Police Academy instead, aren't you?" Tokimi nodded. Then, as they looked on, the two GP's talked to each other.

"Alright, you go back front and make sure no one else is in the house," said Sagami's partner, "I'll go around the back. And take your time. It's not like anyone cares what happens to this place, anyway."

"Yes sir," said Sagami. Then, once his partner had walked off, Sagami looked right at where Misao was hiding. "Get going, kid. Here's something for your trouble." He handed her a few coins. "Now get outta here before my partner sees you."

"You mean he's just going to let her go?" said Yosho, "Not even an investigation? Not even asking her who did this to my place?" He let out an angry yell when he saw Sagami suddenly turn towards the house and spit in its direction. "I'll have his job for this! I'll ... I'll... Where am I anyway? Why am I not out here? Why am I not giving him what for?"

Tokimi flashed him an almost sinister smile as if to say "You're about to find out", and created the black mist again. Once the mist dissipated, Yosho saw that they were now in a graveyard.

"Why have you taken me here?" asked Yosho. Little did he know that his own question was about to be answered by the two workers in the graveyard: Tetta, a man with a dark hair and beard, and Amarobei, a former customer that Yosho had treated unkindly (but then, that described many of Yosho's former customers).

"When I signed on as an undertaker's apprentice, I didn't know it would involve helping the gravedigger!" said Amarobei, leaning wearily on his shovel.

"That's 'memorial excavation engineer' to you," said Tetta.

"Engineer?" said Amarobei, "All you do is dig holes, dump the bodies into them, and fill the hole back up!"

"Yeah, but by calling yourself a memorial excavation engineer you can get three times the pay of a gravedigger," Tetta said with a morbid chuckle. "Small turnout for this guy, though," he added, nodding at the grave they were working on, "Only three people, and one of them looked as if she didn't want to be there."

"That's what happens when you alienate the entire galaxy," said Amarobei, shrugging, "At least I got back what's mine from him." He looked at his watch. "Let's call it a night. No need to make this one look pretty. He ain't gonna have a lot of visitors anyway."

"What about the Royal Teardrops, boy?" asked Tetta. He gestured towards several bouquets resting on the ground, a short distance from the digging equipment.

"Let's put them on the grave of that cute little girl that we're laying to rest tomorrow. She deserves them more," said Amarobei, "Anyways, we gotta get cleaned up for that party Tessei and Mitsuki are throwing. The boss says he just came into a lot of money, if you know what I mean." At that, the two of them had a BIG laugh, gathered up their supplies, and headed off.

Yosho suddenly realized the relevance of the scene he had just observed. "Spirit, whose grave is that?" he asked slowly.

With a decidedly wicked smile, Tokimi pointed to the tombstone. As she did so, the engraved Juraian letters started to glow. Yosho dropped to his knees and stared at the glowing name in disbelief...

YOSHO.

Tokimi began to laugh softly.

Yosho was more frightened than ever. "Is this how events WILL turn out, or just how they MIGHT come to pass?"

Tokimi laughed a bit louder.

"NO! It MUST be how they might come to pass! Why would you be showing me this if I'm to be damned?!" Yosho exclaimed.

Tokimi laughed even more loudly.

"ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!" Yosho shouted, "IS THIS HOW THINGS MUST BE?!!!!!"

Tokimi was now laughing at full volume. She turned and walked off, still laughing.

"Where are you going?" demanded Yosho.

Tokimi ignored Yosho and continued walking away. She had stopped laughing, and Yosho almost felt as if the silence was crushing him.

"Don't leave me here!" Yosho cried, "I can change!"

Tokimi just kept walking away.

"DEMON! I CAN CHANGE! I MUST CHANGE!" Yosho shouted as loudly as he could.

Tokimi walked into nothingness. Just as she disappeared, black mist rose from Yosho's grave. For a brief moment, Yosho thought that Tokimi was reappearing, but then the dark mass grew a pair of white hands, and a white mask with three eyes. The mouth of the mask opened and the creature chuckled, a deep rumbling sound that was far more terrifying than Tokimi's laugh.

"What in the name of...?" But before Yosho could finish, one of the hands seized him and began to pull him into the grave. "NO!" Yosho tried desperately to get away, pulling up fistfuls of grass as he tried to hold onto the ground while the white hand continued to drag him into the hole. "I CAN'T DIE!!!! NOT YET! PLEASE?!!!" It didn't have to end this way! He could change, he knew he could! Couldn't he?

The dark creature pulling him in suddenly became much stronger. As Yosho made another attempt to get away, he turned his head in time to see the creature's mask crack open, then fall away. Its dark head stretched forward, producing a long, animal-like mouth filled with menacingly curved fangs. The creature now had only two eyes, which stared cruelly at Yosho while purple and black wings sprang from the dark being's back. The eyes were huge and without pupils, but somehow their merciless gaze looked familiar. It was almost ... it was almost like the look Yosho had given countless people, wasn't it?

Was this dark dragon the ugliness inside Yosho? Was this what he had to overcome? Could he beat it? As the creature tugged at him again, images swirled through Yosho's mind ... Kiyone ... Aeka ... Sasami...

With a great effort, Yosho was able to pull away just enough so that he could stand on solid ground. "I! CAN! CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he shouted.

The creature, whose hand was still on Yosho's ankle, stopped pulling.

Yosho breathed a sigh of relief.

The creature then yanked him into the grave with such speed that the terrified Yosho didn't even have time to wet himself.

However, when Yosho hit the "bottom", he saw that it looked a lot like his own room. After remaining seated on his bed for a few moments, Yosho realized that it really WAS his room. As that dawned on him, only one phrase came to mind... "I'M ALIVE!!!!"

He leapt out of the bed and whooped with joy. After a few more moments, he said to himself, "The spirits brought me back! Ha-ha!" He was nearly ready to start dancing around the room, but then a thought occurred to him. "But ... am I too late?" Yosho ran to the window and opened it. He spotted one of the neighborhood children standing there, a boy named Rumiya. "You, young man, what day is it?" Yosho called out to him.

"Who, me sir?" asked Rumiya.

"Yes, you!" Yosho said earnestly, "Tell me, what day is this?"

"Today sir? Don't you know? It's Startica!"

Yosho became even more excited. "Startica," he said to himself, "The Spirits did it all in one night." To Rumiya, he said: "Do you know of the bakery around the corner?"

"You mean Ramia's?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"I should hope so, sir. It's my sister's!"

"Clever young boy," Yosho said to himself. To that boy, he said: "Tell me, does she still have that Startica basket in the window?"

"You mean the one with the Startica cake as big as me?" asked Rumiya.

"Yes! That's the one!" Yosho said excitedly, "Have that basket delivered here and I'll pay you 10 Jurai!"

Rumiya's eyes widened. "You're cracked!" he declared.

The boy looked ready to run away, but Yosho stopped him by calling out "This isn't a joke! I'm serious. Tell you what. If you get back here in ten minutes, I'll give you 25 Jurai."

The boy seemed to consider this. Finally, he nodded. "Well... since you put it that way..." Suddenly, and surprisingly, he morphed into a bird and flew off.

"My, boys are turning into birds and flying younger and younger these days," Yosho murmured to himself, smiling. He walked away from the window, but then stopped and realized something. "BOYS TURNING INTO BIRDS?!!!!!!!" He ran back to the window and looked out. As he did, Nagi entered the room to see what had gotten her boss so excited.

"Sir, are you alright?" she asked.

"Nagi!" Yosho exclaimed happily, "How are you on this fine Startica morning?"

Nagi blinked in surprise. "So ... you're NOT alright?"

"I'm better than alright! I'm ALIVE!" Yosho proclaimed joyously.

"Okay..." Nagi's eyes darted around the room nervously.

Yosho took Nagi by the wrist and led her around the room, saying, "You should've seen it! Over here is where Kagato's ghost stood! And there! THERE is where Tsunami and I flew out the window!" He was practically jumping up and down with excitement as he went on and on about ghosts and spirits. Could you blame Nagi for thinking that the big smile on Yosho's face was the scariest thing she had ever seen? Didn't think so.

"Uh-huh..." her eyes continued to dart around, trying to assess which objects in the room could best be used to defend herself if Yosho started to *really* flip out.

"And this is where Washu changed into a little girl! You should've seen her!"

"Uh, yeah... Look, you stay right here while I call the boys in white. They'll help you. I'll be back in a bit." Nagi began to slowly back out of the room, but let out a yelp of surprise when she bumped into a table and knocked something over. Giving up on trying to remain calm, she whirled around, bolted out the door, and scrambled down the stairs.

Somehow, someway, Yosho caught up with her and grabbed her. In his excitement, he was completely unaware of the spot where he had grabbed her. You see, he was unintentionally ... er, cupping her cups.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! HENTAI!" Nagi shouted.

Yosho, completely unaware of what the problem was, tried unsuccessfully to calm her down. "SHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"HENTAI!!!!!!"

"SHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

"HENTAIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!"

Yosho finally removed his hand from one of her breasts, in order to cover her mouth. "Shhhhh!"

Nagi, having had quite enough, jerked away violently enough to break free. "Let go of me, you creep!"

"Shhhhh. Listen!"

"Listen to a madman?"

Yosho blinked. "Madman?" Suddenly, he smiled. "No, my dear. I haven't taken leave of my senses. I've come to them." Yosho reached into his robe, pulled out a small coin bag, and handed it to her. "Here. Take this."

Nagi opened the bag and saw its contents. "500 JURAI?!!!!!! ... Is this for me keeping my mouth shut about this incident?"

"Keeping your... NO! No-no-no-no No." He looked her in the eyes to show his sincerity. "Happy Startica, Nagi."

Nagi's eyes darted around nervously again. "Happy ... Startica? Are you sure you're all right, sir?"

"For certain," said Yosho, nodding. When Nagi did not move, he added, "Well? What are you still doing here? Activate those Souja Guard Bots that Kagato had, and take the rest of the holiday off. And a Happy Startica to you." Yosho then headed back up to his room, leaving a puzzled Nagi standing on the stairs.

Nagi finally decided not to ask questions. As she headed downstairs and got ready to leave, she called out, "Thank YOU, Sir! And in keeping with the situation, have a Joyous Startica!" She then headed out the door, no doubt to see a certain handsome employee of Miss Aeka's.

Not long after Nagi left Yosho's house, a Jurai delivery van (think of a cross between a Juraian tree ship and Luke's landspeeder from Star Wars) pulled up in front. It was marked with the words "Ramia's Bakery and Catering" in Juraian script.

Ramia stepped out of the van, followed by her brother. "Are you sure THIS is the address?" Ramia asked doubtfully.

"Would I lie to you?" asked Rumiya.

"Yes!" Ramia replied humorlessly. "You'd better be right about this!" She then headed to the door. As she did so, a certain little beggar named Misao walked up to Rumiya. He smiled at the girl, blushing as he did so, and went back into the van to get something for her.

Meanwhile, Ramia activated the door chime and looked into the security monitor. But to her surprise, Yosho actually answered the door himself. She had been expecting Nagi to answer, using the security monitor. "Uh ... Mr. Yosho?"

"Yes?" he said, smiling.

Ramia was so astonished by the smile that it took her a minute before she could think of something to say. "Well, you see, my brother said that you..."

"And it only took you 7 minutes! Well done!" Yosho said happily.

Ramia was getting more amazed by the second. "So ... this isn't a joke?"

"On the contrary," said Yosho, handing her a piece of paper, "Here. Make the delivery to this address! Just charge it to my name. And make sure you don't tell them who sent it. Oh, and give this to your brother..." He handed her a coin worth 25 Jurai. "See you later! And enjoy your Startica!" he said as he closed the door.

"Uh ... okay. THAT was unexpected," Ramia murmured, "Oh well..." As she headed back to the van, she noticed her brother giving Misao some cookies and candy from the van. "Hey! What have I told you about giving cookies and candy to her?"

Rumiya sighed. "To wait until the official start of the Startica ceremonies..." Just as he finished saying that, though, the special Startica Chimes went off all over the city.

Ramia smiled and picked Misao up, helping the small girl into the van. "NOW you can give her some."

The smile this brought out of Misao was beautiful.

---

A bit later, at the Masaki house, the Startica basket had just arrived. The family was amazed at the size of the surprise delivery. Why, Sasami's eyes had nearly popped out of her kawaii little head! Having done work at Ramia's Bakery, she had seen the colossal gift basket before, in the window display, but she had never thought that she would wake up on Startica to find it on her doorstep.

"Who could've sent this to us?" Achika wondered out loud, "Aeka?"

"Tenchi?" Noboyuki guessed.

"Ryoko?" Mayuka suggested.

"Seion?" said Sagami. At that, Achika playfully slapped him upside the back of his head.

"I know who it was," Sasami announced.

The family looked at her.

"It was Mr. Yosho," she declared.

The family REALLY looked at her.

"Sasami...?" Mirei began, before she realized that she was too surprised to even know how to finish the question.

"Why do you say that?" Achika finished for her.

"I don't know," Sasami admitted, "but I have this feeling that he did. Maybe Tsunami helped him realize what Startica is all about."

"Yeah!" Mayuka exclaimed, "It's about fireworks and candy!"

Achika laughed. "No, I think she means something MUCH better," she said as she huggled her Sasami-chan.

"It doesn't matter who sent it," said Noboyuki, "The fact that they sent it is all that matters, right?" He grinned and lifted Sasami up onto his shoulders. "Now come on. We have to go see Tsunami."

"And thank her, right?" said Sasami, her face an open-mouthed show of joy somewhere between smiling and laughing.

"Right," said Achika, smiling again. It was a smile that was soon reflected on the others' faces.

---

Around the same time in another part of the city, Tenchi made his way through the cemetery to Kiyone's grave, carrying a large flowerpot of Royal Teardrops. He visited his departed mother every year at this time, planting flowers at her grave and wishing her a happy Startica.

Peering over the flowers that he was carrying, Tenchi looked at the grave he had arrived at, and almost thought that he had gone the wrong way ... but the name on the tombstone was correct. He stared in surprise at the unexpected sight.

Someone had already planted flowers on her grave.

---

Later that day at Tenchi's party, the guest of honor, Aeka, had just arrived.

"Yura, you can go home now. We will no longer require your services for the rest of the night. And here's a little something for Startica." Tenchi handed her a package, and knowing how generous Tenchi was, one could guess (correctly) that it was something nice.

Just as Yura walked out the door into the foyer of Tenchi's house, she saw, to her amazement, that Yosho was walking towards the door. Knowing that he had been invited, she let him in and took his walking stick. Still rather surprised to see him, she watched as he stood by the door leading to the party.

That was when Yosho heard the music. The band was playing "Meet Me at Dream Lake"... the very same song that had been playing when he had proposed to Aeka. He looked back at Yura with an almost youthful smile. She then nodded for him to enter the room, and he did so.

Now, where was ... Ah, there she was, sitting near Ryoko. As "their song" continued to play, Yosho quietly watched Aeka. As could be expected, she was wearing the same exquisite dress as when Washu had given Yosho a glimpse of this party. Because of the distance, the diamond broach Aeka wore over her heart did not look a miniature galaxy to Yosho this time, but a single star. A single, lonely star on her black dress. Yosho shook his head and wondered how he ever could have left someone with such a bright and beautiful soul as hers.

Ryoko happened to look in Yosho's direction, and smiled. She nudged Aeka, causing her to look up... and her eyes met Yosho's. By this point, most of the others at the party had also noticed his presence. They were all amazed to see him, but probably none of them could have been more amazed than Tenchi. Well, except maybe Aeka...

"Y-Yosho?" said Aeka. Her face lit up with joyous surprise, making it even more beautiful than it had been just a moment before.

"Uncle?" said Tenchi, a smile also appearing on his face.

However, there was one party guest who wasn't all that happy about the surprise. "Damn!" Seion murmured. Grumbling softly, he pulled a bill out of his wallet and handed it to Cyraqs, who was obviously quite pleased at having won a bet that most would have thought he would lose. Cyraqs then turned to his date, Tsunami, who winked and gave him a thumbs-up.

Meanwhile, completely unaware of the little monetary transaction, Yosho walked up to his nephew. "Is there room at your party for one more guest?" he asked.

Tenchi's smile became even broader as he put his hand on Yosho's shoulder. "You've ALWAYS been welcome in our house."

After nodding in gratitude, Yosho walked over to where Ryoko and Aeka were sitting, knelt before them, and gave Aeka her ring back. "Can you ladies forgive this foolish old man for having no eyes to see with, nor ears to hear with?" he asked. As a response, the two ladies rose and hugged him in the affirmative. Aeka was weeping, but her tears were not those of sadness, but those of joy. Wondrous, overwhelming joy. It was a feeling shared by Yosho as he said to her, "May I have this dance, young lady?"

Smiling, she wrapped her arms around him tightly and pressed herself as close to him as possible, as if she never wanted to let go. Certainly as Yosho put his arms around Aeka, he knew that he didn't ever want to lose her again. They happily danced to "their song". And all the guests made quite merry with their party. It was a very joyous time indeed.

---

The next day, Noboyuki walked to work with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. His family had never had a better Startica than yesterday's. The gift basket they had received had included a kite and other toys, and the entire family had spent the day in the park enjoying them together. And at night, there had been the parade (Tsunami had been in it, of course) and the candy and the fireworks... Noboyuki had never seen Sasami smile so much in one day. And you could bet that her contagious happiness had spread to everyone else. Why, Noboyuki wouldn't be surprised in the least if he saw a news headline saying "Kawaii girl spreads her infectious happiness all over Jurai: Finally, an epidemic no one wants a cure for!".

Just then, the bell signifying that he was late for work chimed. Upon hearing the sound, Noboyuki picked up the pace and hurried to his place of employment. Finally arriving, he tried to sneak in, hoping Yosho wouldn't see him, but to no avail: Yosho was waiting in front of Noboyuki's desk.

"Late are we, Mr. Masaki?" asked Yosho, crossing his arms.

"Sorry, sir," said Noboyuki, "I didn't mean to be late, but me and the family were having such a wonderful time last night..."

"Yes, I bet you were," Yosho interrupted, "But that still doesn't excuse you for coming in at this hour."

"I'm sorry, sir," said Noboyuki, "It won't happen again."

"I know," Yosho said in a businesslike tone, "You have left me with only one choice..." his face broke into a smile as he finished with "...and that's to give you the rest of the day off and a raise."

"Won't you reconsid..." Noboyuki began, before Yosho's words finally sank in. His eyes widened. "What did you say?!"

"To take the rest of the day off!" said Yosho, still smiling. "But if you want to work..."

"Uh..." was all Noboyuki could manage. The surprised look had still not left his face.

Yosho laughed. "Well, what are you still doing here?"

"Uh... You ARE Yosho, right?"

"For certain, Mr. Masaki."

"Are you ... feeling alright?" Noboyuki asked cautiously.

"I assure you, Mr. Masaki, I am not mad. In fact, I've never felt better."

"Sir?" At this point, it had dawned on Nobuyuki that Sasami must have been right about Yosho having been the one who had sent that gift basket.

"Noboyuki, I want to make up for all the times I let you down," Yosho said seriously, "I want to help you take care of that little girl of yours." He then gave Noboyuki a look of mock disapproval. "Well? What are you still doing here? Go home, man."

"YES SIR!" Noboyuki said happily, heading out the door.

"I don't deserve to be so happy," Yosho said to himself. He let out a peal of youthful laughter. "I just can't help it!"

---

Yosho was more than good to his word. He reconciled with Aeka and his nephew, accepted Ryoko into his family, and helped out a certain young girl... But why tell you when we can show you?

One fine Startica ten years later, Yosho was walking down the street, admiring the holiday decorations and saying hello to anyone who passed him. The greetings Yosho gave people were always pleasant, but they became briefer as he hurried his pace the closer he got to the bakery. Nobody minded, though: they knew that when he rushed like that, it was because he was eager to meet with a certain person. Everyone thought it was very charming.

After smiling at Mitsuki, who had just thanked him for his generous donation to the Orphans' Fund, Yosho stopped in front of the bakery (now renamed "Ramia and Misao's Bakery"). He was about to go inside when the door suddenly opened and Aeka stepped out, carrying a basket of newly purchased Startica pastries. She gave him a "you're just in time" smile, and Yosho took the basket and put his other arm around her, holding his wife close as they walked down the street together. The greetings Yosho gave people became longer and more leisurely again, only this time Aeka's gentle voice added to his salutations. Naturally, Yosho thought that made his greetings much better. Everyone who met the happy couple thought the same thing.

The cheerful sound of two children laughing and running filled the air. It was truly a day for happy sounds. Recognizing the children's voices, Yosho and Aeka smiled and turned around to see them. "Happy Startica, Yui! Going to see Tsunami?" Aeka asked the taller one.

The cyan-haired girl, now about 10 years old, nodded eagerly.

Yosho smiled at the other child, the younger girl standing next to Yui who also had cyan hair and golden eyes.

"And I see that you're taking your little sister along with you!" Aeka continued, also turning to smile at the other girl.

The younger girl, Tenchi and Ryoko's second child, smiled shyly. Yosho patted her on the head. "Goodness, Minagi!" he said to her, "You and Yui are getting so big! And you're getting prettier all the time, too! You look so much like your mommy!"

"Look!" another child's voice suddenly called out, "It's Tsunami!"

The child who had shouted that - Taro, the son of Amarobei and Yura - led an excited group of neighborhood children down the street, where a beautiful blue-haired woman waited.

"There she is!" Yui exclaimed, "Come on!" She took Minagi by the hand, and the two girls ran down the street, where the crowd of children around Tsunami was growing. The smile on Tsunami's face was growing as well.

Yosho and Aeka stood from a distance, watching as Tsunami began to lead the neighborhood children in singing Startica songs.

Aeka clapped her hands in delight. "That's Sasami, isn't it?" she asked.

Yosho nodded.

That's right, Sasami had not died. Noboyuki had once said that it was his dream that Sasami would one day be healthy enough to walk in the Startica Parade. Well, thanks to Yosho's help, Sasami would not only be walking in this year's parade, she was the parade's Tsunami!

"Let's go sing too," Yosho suggested.

Aeka laughed and followed Yosho as they joined the children in singing Startica songs. Minagi, the smallest child in the crowd, had trouble seeing over the shoulders of the other children, so Yosho picked her up to let her have a better view. Yosho then winked at "Tsunami", and she winked back as she continued singing. Sasami did not run out of breath even once, and her cheeks had a healthy glow to them. In fact, in the bright sunlight, her entire being seemed to glow.

"It's a beautiful day to have Startica," Aeka whispered to Yosho in between songs, "I think it's a sign that we have a very good year ahead of us."

"Of course we do," said Yosho, giving Aeka a kiss on the cheek, "You just know that everything's going to be good..."

"...when Tsunami is going to be in the annual parade." Aeka finished for him.

"As always," said Yosho, smiling. Aeka embraced him, including Minagi in the hug, and Yosho happily whispered something he had once heard Sasami say, "May Tsunami bless everyone."

"So join us in our Startica song," everybody sang, "A celebration of light and warmth that we'll keep all year long..."

It became a common saying on Jurai that nobody kept the spirit of Startica better than Yosho. It was also often said that the real Tsunami herself was impressed by his generosity. No one knew how the transformation in Yosho had come to be (except, of course, for us), but what was really important was not what had brought about the little miracle, but simply that it HAD happened. After all, Startica is a celebration of the magic of summer, is it not? Yes, a celebration of light, of warmth, and the love that, if given a chance, can reach even the hardest of hearts. Now that, dear readers, is definitely something worth celebrating. Maybe we should all take Sasami's words to heart. Maybe we should all have Tsunami bless everyone.

THE END

Authors' notes: So, what did you think? Please send your feedback.

Special thanks go to Happosai and K'thardin for prereading! We'd also like to thank them, as well as Evil Dr. Tran, for letting us use their original fan fic characters: Kintarou Jurai from "Aikan Muyo", Cyraqs K'thardin from "Heaven and Eternity", and Yui from "Ryoko's Love". Thanks for all your help! The next round of Amanese rum is on us!

[Yayoi Toreishi walks onto the stage]

Yayoi: Wait, you forgot to mention that annoying Seion character! He's the creation of Patrick M. Stewart.

Seion: HEY!

Patrick M. Stewart: Come on, where's your holiday spirit? You're making Seion cry!

Lita Eagle: Er... anyway, folks, thanks for reading!


End file.
